Ruler of the Shadows
by yugixyamiyaoilover
Summary: Yami was every bit a normal teen ready to take on the adventures of college with his boyfriend and friends beside him. However not everything is as it seems as changes being to happen with Yami that he did not see coming. What does this all have to do with the strange puzzle Yugi wears around his neck? The Shadow Games have reawakened so let the games begin!
1. Chapter 1

**Ruler of the Shadows **

**Pairings: **YamixYugi with other minor future pairings

**Summary: **Yami was every bit a normal teen ready to take on the adventures of college with his boyfriend and friends beside him. However not everything is as it seems as changes being to happen with Yami that he did not see coming. What does this all have to do with the strange puzzle Yugi wears around his neck? The Shadow Games have reawakened so let the games begin!

* * *

**Sakura:** New story! I have wanted to do a remake of Yu-Gi-Oh for years now, but never found the time. Well I finally found the time and after a little help from** s2Teennovelist**, this story was made possible. I know some people have done remakes before, but I promise this one will be way different from everyone else's and will be finished. So keep an eye out because there will be changes to the original Yu-Gi-Oh. Oh and one more thing this mostly takes place from the manga rather than the anime.

**Disclaimer: YU-GI-OH DOES NOT AND WILL NEVER BELONG TO ME!**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Lying Eyes**

Domino University is a small college located within the city of Domino, Japan with a small population of only about a thousand or so students. Among those students was Atemu Yami Kaiba, though he preferred to be called Yami, who stood outside the main gate of the college with two of his friends waiting on another friend to arrive. The campus was quiet for seven o'clock in the morning but that would quickly change the closer it got to eight.

Joseph Wheeler, known as Joey to his friends, let out a loud yawn as he lean against the wall that surrounded the small campus. "I don't know about you guys but I'm ready for winter vacation to come on…"

Duke Devlin, another friend of Yami and Joey, rolled his eyes at the blonde's statement. "You're just not a morning person. You were like this in high school, although you got away with sleeping in class back then." He snickered as he remembered one of the professors scaring the crap out of Joey last week by dropping some heavy books on Joey's desk.

"Not my fault his lecture bored me to tears…" Joey defended himself with a glare toward Duke.

Yami chuckled as he watched the bus stop that was located across the street. The bus finally pulled up to its destination after an hour long wait. The trio waited a few minutes and once all the passengers were off the bus pulled away giving full view to the people who had gotten off. Most were already headed down the sidewalk toward their destination, while one certain individual checked the street both ways before quickly running across.

"Yami!" The petite boy yelled as he ran into Yami's arms. He was quick to wrap his arms around the taller boy's neck and pull him down for a kiss. The other two pretended to gag at the public display of affection.

When the smaller pulled away, Yami smiled at him. "Good morning to you too Yugi, you seem extra chirpy this morning."

Yugi pulled away and clasp his hands behind his back. "I just woke up in a good mood this morning," He turned his head to look at the other two who were still snickering over something. "Alright you two, if you don't behave, I won't buy you breakfast…"

Joey had a look of horror cross his face. "You're kidding right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Yuugi said with a little smirk of his own.

Joey and Duke looked at each other before looking to Yugi with pledging faces. "Please feed us!" They begged.

Yami laughed at the two as he wrapped his arm around Yugi's shoulders. "Let's see what the university cafeteria has for us this morning. Will Tea be joining us?"

"No, she has early dance rehearsal before her first class so she texted me this morning and said she would see us for lunch," Yuugi informed his partner as they followed the two knuckle heads in front of them who happily lead the way through the small campus toward the building that held most of the food places offered on the campus. Mostly dorm students used the building for their meals, but other students were welcomed too. "You finished your English assignment last night?" He asked his taller lover.

"Yeah, but I got to tell you that our English professor is lame for making us write about ourselves. I don't have much of an interesting life…" Yami let out a sigh just thinking about the lame assignment that was tucked away in the backpack on his back. He and his friends had gotten the assignment two days ago and he had only been able to type it last night. "I just hope all the other assignments won't be boring…"

Yugi chuckled which sounded more like a giggle as he said, "Oh don't be such a baby about it. Your life is much more interesting than mine is. At least your brother is the CEO of a major gaming company."

Yami smirked at that, "True, but I'm not as famous as a certain King of Games." He pointed out as he tickled Yugi's side. Yugi laughed and broke away from Yami hurrying after the other two with Yami right behind him.

* * *

Two classes down and Yami was already ready for lunch. Their history professor was going on and on about stuff they already learned about in high school and Yami was about ready to pass out. His eyes drifted to the rest of the room and saw most of his friends either dozing off or paying close attention. Due to the fact that the campus requires students to take general education courses their first two years of college it was decided among friends to take the same courses so they could help each other study. Yami was stuck in this awful class with Tea, Joey, Duke, Tomoya, and of course his lover Yugi. Tea, Tomoya, and Yugi were all playing attention while Joey was passed out on top his desk, while for Duke it appeared he was taking notes, but Yami could tell he was taking a cat nap with his bangs hiding his closed eyes. They had one other friend Tristan Taylor, but he decided to work in his dad's mechanic shop instead of going to University.

They were a strange bunch but Yami would not change them for any other friends in the world. It used to be just him and Duke back in high school, but one fateful day allowed him to come face to face with his high school crush and then after that they all became close with one another. Yugi's friends became his friends and they all were inseparable now. Back in high school Yami had been a loner thanks to his brother Seto Kaiba before he met Duke. No one wanted to get close to him for fear of pissing Seto off. It sometimes pushed a wedge between him and his brother, but then Duke transferred to his school and next thing he knew he had a true friend.

Yugi and his friends did not come along until the end of their junior year when one fateful day Yami helped Yugi out when he was being bullied after school. It seemed they both had a crush on each other, but were too afraid to approach each other. After Yami saved Yugi he let slip that he liked him and then from that day on they became a couple. It was not serious at first given over the summer Yugi went away to some tournament for Duel monsters called Duelist Kingdom being held by the creator, but when he returned nothing had changed between them so they started a more serious relationship. The only real difference that had change was that Yugi gained a label of being the King of Games and he became a lot more popular. Thankfully Yugi knew who really cared for him and only had a few close friends.

A nudge to Yami's ribs caused the other to jerk up and look to his right. "What was that for?"

"You were daydreaming again." Yugi hissed in a whisper so the professor wouldn't hear them. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"No, a certain blond on the other side of you snores so badly it shakes the apartment." Yami whispered back as they both looked over at Joey who was drooling all over his paper. "I guess he'll want to see our notes again. I don't see how he passed high school sleeping all the time."

"Joey has his ways and I'm sure he'll be fine. He is smarter than we think…" Yugi replied as he went back to taking his notes. This was only their second week of University and some may have not seen it as tough yet, but every day counted when it came to getting the education to be able to build successful careers.

Yami looked down at the notes he had taken and noticed most of it was ideas for new game designs which dealt with history. That was why he was in college to learn everything there was about game design, which he could learn on his own, but figured college was a good place to start. Each one of them was there for their own reason, except Joey and Yugi. Tea was studying dance and drama, Tomoya was studying graphic design and literature, and Duke was studying business. Yugi and Joey were the only ones in their group with undecided majors. It was only their first semester in college so there was no rush to come up with a major, but Yami always wondered what Yugi would pick later on. He was an excellent gamer and had never been beaten at any type of game, but could that really count as a career.

"Alright class that is all I have for today…" Their professor spoke up gaining everyone's attention as the time neared for him to end the lesson, "I'll see you all next time we meet and don't forget to study for the quiz."

As soon as those words were spoken, the sound of backpacks being filled and closed up, along with the scraping of chairs against the floor filled the room as students hurried to leave. Yami took his time closing his binder and putting it in his bag as his friends did the same and Yugi tried to wake Joey up. They did not have another class until a little after noon. Three days a week they had three classes while two days a week they only had two. The three classes they had in one day were spread out so they could have lunch after two classes in a row. The days they only had two classes the group decided to have both early in the morning before lunch so those days would be shorter. Once their general education courses were over planning their schedules the same would be impossible unless they were studying the same major. So for now they wanted to spend as much time together in the same classes for the first two years. A few of them had jobs after school so it was hard seeing one another as much as they did in high school along with Tea who had been trying to get on the University dance team. Yami was the only one who had it easy given he was a Kaiba and had plenty of money so that he didn't have to work.

"So what sounds good for lunch?" Joey questioned as he sat up and stretched his back.

The rest of them just groan as food was always on the blonde's mind. Yami grabbed Yugi's hand as they all started to walk out while saying, "I'll pay this time, but you better get your butt in gear and figure out what you want." He did not have to say anything else as Joey was quickly in front of the group and out of the building before the rest of them.

"Come on slow pokes!" Joey shouted over his shoulder. Once food was the topic he was all ready for action. The rest of them followed at a slower pace, but were quick to catch up with the other as it appeared he had stopped not far from the building staring at the fountain plaza just across the way.

"What's going on?" Yuugi asked as he moved from Yami's side and up to Joey's to see if he could see what the blond was staring at.

Joey pointed ahead of them and it was then they all noticed some students in a crowd looking at a news van along with a camera crew setting up. "There is a news van at our school," Joey said stating the obvious.

"But why…" Yuugi wondered and the next thing he knew Joey had his upper arm and was dragging him toward the crowd. "Joey, hold on…"

"Come on Yug… Let's see what is going on," Joey told him before he yelled to the others. "We will see you in the cafeteria."

Yami sighed but simply walked off. He knew Joey would be back in a matter of minutes once he realized the news van was probably here for a sports game or something. It was probably nothing and the last thing Yami wanted was to be caught on camera. He got enough of that by being a Kaiba.

* * *

Yami sighed as he checked his phone before looking up at his surroundings as students still cluttered the campus. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain as the crowd from earlier and the news van had been gone long ago leaving it peaceful once again. He and their friends had gotten out of their last class about ten minutes ago. His and Yugi's friends had to go to their jobs or in Tea's case another rehearsal, which left Yugi and Yami a little free time together. However before their last class of the day started, Yuugi had informed him he needed to do something before they left campus for the day. Yami told his little lover he would wait at the fountain for him. The two were nearly inseparable, but there were times when Yami had to give Yugi his space.

The only problem was for the last ten minutes Yami had this horrible feeling in his gut that something was not right. He kept checking his phone and all those around him, but could see nothing out of place. It seemed he was not seeing something he should be seeing as the next thing he knew there was a sharp pain that passed through his head. The pain was there and gone before he could figure out what just happened and then as if his legs had a mind of his own he was up and running toward somewhere.

"What the hell?" He cried as he ran toward somewhere but did not know where. It wasn't until he stopped out of the blue that he noticed he was near the large garden the university had that grew fruits and vegetables along with flowers of all types. The place was empty for the most part but out of the corner of his eye he noticed a scene that caused his blood to boil.

His mind went blank as he took off and without thinking about what the consequences would be and he punched the guy who had been about to hit Yugi once again. When the guy was on the ground, Yami kneeled beside Yugi and helped him sit up.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yami asked with concern and worry. He carefully reached out to touch the bruising left cheek Yugi had and caused the smaller to wince. Over all he looked fine, so Yami figured he had gotten there just after the guy punched his partner in the face.

Yami turned murderous eyes toward the one who had caused his partner harm. "You!" He yelled moving away from Yugi and picking the guy off the ground by his shirt. "What were you doing to my boyfriend?!"

"I…I didn't want to…really…" The other guy shuttered, "But the director…"

"Director?" Yami questioned before he turned when some guy stepped out of the bushes with a camera guy right behind him. "So you're the guy who put Yugi through this?" He dropped the guy in his hands who quickly hurried off.

The guy only smirked while Yami growled at him keeping his eye on him as he moved back to Yuugi. "What happened here?"

Yugi looked at the director to see the camera guy behind him was still filming. He could not believe he had been some stupid as to believe that fake student. Sadly he could feel tears come to his eyes and the last thing he wanted was to be seen as weak.

Yami could tell Yugi was about to cry so he kneeled down and pulled him closer keeping his face from the view of the camera.

"Stop the camera! They're lovers we get it! This kind of stuff is a waste of tape," The director yelled at the guy behind him who pulled the camera away from his face turning it off. "Look… it was just bad luck you got picked for the victim… Just coincidence about the same odds as rolling the dice and getting a one…" He explained to Yugi with a chuckle not at all feeling sorry for the boy. "But because of that we've taped a good show! The viewers will sympathize with you and send in letters by the dozen! You're a star Yugi! The star of our program!"

Yami stood back up ready to get back at the director for what he did to Yugi. Now that the camera wasn't rolling he had no fear of being caught on camera. "Are you asking to die?" He threatened walking up to the director and grabbing the much taller guy by the shirt. "I'll make sure you never work another day in television if you don't apologize to my Aibou and erase that footage you got."

"If I don't you gonna hit me…" The director said with a laugh, "Just remember, I'm recording the whole thing."

Yami was taken by surprise as another camera guy came out of the bushes with his camera rolling. He never saw it coming as the next thing he knew the director had kneed him in the gut causing him to fall to the ground in pain. The guy had gotten a lucky shot if only Yami had not been distracted.

"Yami!" Yugi shouted getting over his pain to run over to Yami.

"Don't you get it? You can't fight the power of media!" The director laughed while walking away his camera crew following right behind him.

Once they were gone Yami sat up although even that was painful. "He's just lucky the cameras were rolling…"

"Violence is not always the answer it's my fault anyway…"

Yami looked at Yugi in shock. "Getting beat up is never your fault. Some people have really sick minds…"

"Yeah, but I was the one who fell into the trap. I thought I was going to be interviewed for the campus newspaper. I thought the guy who was beating me up was a student here. He had a student badge and everything, I should have been more careful." Yugi argued with tears in his eyes as he looked away. He shouldn't have believed what he had been told. The guy had approached him while he was alone when he was returning to his friends from the restroom. He lied to Yugi and told the teen that the school was excited to have the King of Games as a student and he wanted to interview him for the student newspaper. Yugi had thought nothing of it and agreed to meet him after his class. He had been interviewed many of times before after his win against the creator Duel monsters Maximillion Pegasus. He figured it would only take a minute, but never knew he was walking into a trap for some horrible TV show. Both he and Joey had seen nothing going on by the news van and he wished he had known they were trying to find a victim like him for some cruel TV show.

Yami was never one to let his Aibou think so badly of himself. He lifted Yugi's face up and lean over kissing the bruised left cheek. When he pulled back he smiled at him. "No, it is never your fault. I will make sure that man pays for messing with someone I love."

"You're not going to do anything stupid are you?"

"No, but I will make sure he never works in television again." He pulled out his phone to look at the time. "How about you head over to my apartment and put some ice on that cheek. I'm sure it's starting to hurt." Yami said as he reached into his pocket giving Yugi his apartment key, "I need to deal with this then I'll be right over."

Yugi looked at Yami and could tell nothing he said was going to change the others mind so he sighed and took the key. "Oh alright, but be careful…" The smaller teen went over to pick his back pack off the ground, before hurrying off. Thankfully Yami's apartment that he shared with Joey and Tristan was only two blocks away from the campus so he could run there without any problems. He just hoped Joey and Tristan weren't there because if they heard about what happened to him they would be out for blood.

While he ran Yugi never noticed the small glow that came from the millennium puzzle he wore around his neck. It was his most prized possession that his grandfather gave him. The millennium puzzle was an upside down pyramid made of solid gold that he wore around his neck on a chain. The item came all the way from Egypt and had a tale that went along with it, but Yugi never believed the stories. It just became something he wore every day because of what it symbolized.

* * *

An hour later, in the parking garage of the news station, Yami lean against a car waiting on a certain someone to get there. He had already spent the last thirty minutes inside the station working his case against the man who hurt his Aibou. The Kaiba name went a long way and after borrowing one of his brother's many lawyers, he was able to get the guy fired for what he did. It seemed before he went to take his break the director had already dropped off his footage to be edited and once the board of directors saw the unedited footage and with someone like Yami breathing down their necks they had the footage erased and informed Yami that the guy would no longer be working for them. Once that was taken care of, Yami bid his lawyer farewell, before making his way into the parking garage. He had no doubt that the director would be there soon once he found out he had lost his job.

It seemed Yami was pretty good at predicting things because it wasn't long before the man he was looking for came got off the elevator to this level and made his way to his car. He looked pissed and Yami was pretty sure if anyone was in his way they would be given a beat down. Yami however was not scared as the guy noticed him and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" He shouted already in a foul mood. They stood staring at each other for a minute before the glare became harsher. "Wait a minute are you the little punk who got me fired?!"

Yami simply smirked and a whole new aura seemed to appear around him. "You have hurt someone precious to me for that you must play a game with me." His smirk became a grin as he reached into his pocket to pull out something.

"A game…?" The director questioned clearly confused.

"It's nothing to be afraid of… Just a simple game of dice!" Yami explained as he pulled the one die out of his pocket. "People have been staking their fate on dice since ancient Egypt. Although back then, we used 'astragali' the uneven heel bones of calves and sheep…"

When the director continued to stare at him like he was crazy, Yami continued to speak, "Now let me explain the rules of this game of fate… We both roll the die. I roll first. Whoever rolls the lowest number wins. I'll even let you win in case of a tie! Sound good?" He received no answer from the man across from him, so he went on and added in, "However if I win then you have to play a penalty game as punishment."

"Ridiculous why do I have to play around with you?" The director finally shouted getting ready to walk away.

"Game start!" Yami announced as he dropped the die in his hands. It rolled and the director humored him for the moment to see what it would land on. The die rolled for a minute before landing with a six.

"Hahahaha! A six!" The director laughed in his face, "No matter what number comes up I win, I don't even need to roll the die!"

Yami stood his ground and smirked at the man, "The odds are in your favor, but the game's not over until you roll."

The director reached down to pick up the die before standing up and throwing it right at Yami's face. "Damn! Don't you ever shut up?!"

The sound of the die making impact with something was the only sound until the die dropped to the ground landing on a one. "It's a one I win…" The director announced about to move passed Yami to get to his car.

"No… you have to play a penalty game." Yami informed him causing the man to look back down at the die and finally see that the die had split into two both a six and a one. He looked up to see that Yami had covered his face with his wrist and wrapped around that wrist was a strange wisp of snake like purple smoke.

The director was not able to get another word out as Yami pointed his finger at him. "Penalty game! Mosaic Illusion!" It wasn't long before the man was on the ground screaming and Yami simply chuckled as he walked away. "Director… for bending the truth in front of the cameras all you shall see will be censored…"

The afternoon wind felt good to Yami as he exited the parking garage. A weight felt like it lifted off his shoulders and a minute later he was blinking in confusion. "Wait a minute…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Ugh I should have left him a while ago. I guess that took longer than I thought. Yugi must be so worried…" No other thoughts entered his mind as he raced for the nearest bus station that would take him back home.

* * *

Yugi sighed as finished setting the table in Yami's small apartment. It was a simple little place with a living room and kitchen/dining room. There were three bedrooms and only one bathroom. As soon as you walked into the place it was easy to tell three guys lived there. Joey and Tristan pretty much left their stuff everywhere. There were a few of Yami's things covering the coffee table but they were his future games he wanted to design. Artwork was included, but Yugi normally left it alone when he came over so he didn't mess anything up. Yami always showed him his designs when he was ready. The three had only been living in the apartment for the two weeks they had been in university, but they had already made it homey for themselves.

The smaller teen sat on one of the cushions around the table with his sandwich and chips. There wasn't much food in the fridge thanks to Joey, but it wasn't hard for Yugi to find something for him to make as a snack for both he and Yami. He just hoped Yami's little errand did not take long. The clock on the wall above the TV told Yugi that Yami had been gone for over an hour so there was no point in worrying yet.

Snacking on his sandwich Yugi place the ice bag over his cheek again hoping the swelling would go down soon. If it didn't he would have to beg Yami to let him stay for the night so his mother wouldn't fuss over him like he was a child. He and his friends were all eighteen years old but the woman treated all of them like babies. Even more so Yugi because according to her he was fragile. Sure he wasn't the strong type and wasn't much of a fighter, but he could hold his own. He proved that by winning the biggest tournament ever for duel monsters and became the King of Games.

The teen was pulled from his thoughts when there was a knock at the door. Yugi wasted no time in hurrying over and looking through the peep hole. He smiled and quickly opened the door allowing Yami to enter. "I was wondering when you would get home, how did it go?"

"It took a lot longer than I thought, but it's been dealt with and you have nothing to worry about." Yami reassured him as he slipped his bag off his shoulder and threw it on the couch. He then followed Yugi to the dining area and took a seat.

Yugi went to the fridge for a second to grab the sandwich he made for Yami before returning to the table with it and a soda. He passed the two to Yami before taking his seat again, "So I take it the guy got fired?"

Yami nodded, "I couldn't let him get away with what he did. I don't use my power as a Kaiba often but this was something that had to be done." He took a bite of his sandwich loving the way Yugi made it just how he liked it. After swallowing the first bite he took a good look at Yugi's face. "Your mother isn't going to like that bruise you got there."

Yugi blushed and looked down. "Yeah, I know she won't but I could always call my grandfather and let him know I'll be staying the night with you to study."

"I probably won't get much studying done with you around," Yami said with a smirk which caused a brighter blush to light up Yugi's face.

"Yami!" Yugi shouted in embarrassment hiding his face in his hands. Sometimes he wondered if Yami's mind ever came out of the gutter. One year of dating and Yugi still could not understand why some of the stuff that bugged him about Yami were also the things he loved about him. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You could kiss me…"

Yugi smiled and lean across the table kissing his lover on the lips. Yami was simply one of a kind and Yugi was really lucky to have him in his life.

* * *

**Sakura: **Done! I did not mean for it to get this long, but I ended up putting so much in the first chapter. As you can see I've left some things unanswered but as time goes on any questions you might have should be answered.

Most importantly yes Yami is a Kaiba so yes that does mean Seto and Mokuba are his brothers. There is more to their story so just stay with me until that is explained because I have a few more surprises in store.

I'm going to try my hardest to stick with the manga, but remember I'm adding my own twist. I did skip the chapter with Ushio, but I have something planned and everyone will see it in the next chapter. Oh and last thing due to the fact I want to make these chapters longer than in my other stories the updates may not have a schedule, so please bear with me and if you want to continue reading add to favorite and alert list please ^_^

**Yumi: Please Review! Short and Long reviews are welcomed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **Thank you all for the reviews! I could tell people had plenty of questions so I hope this chapter will answer a few, but probably not all of them. As long as it doesn't give any thing away I will answer some questions so don't be afraid to put them in your review.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Hard Beat**

_Yami sighed as he continued to mop the floor. It was days like this that he wished he could be more like his brother and get out of cleaning duty. Down the hall were a couple of his fellow students Joey and Tristan although they were doing a little less cleaning and more talking. If only Domino High had a full time janitor then students would not be volunteered to clean up after all the students had gone home. Their school called it community service, but Yami called it child labor. He would much rather be hanging out at the arcade with his friend Duke._

_Another sigh escaped him as he looked down at the bucket of dirty water, picking it up he headed down another hall way toward the staircase. He would have to go all the way outside to dump the water and then use the spout outside to fill it again. Thankfully they were only in charge of one level of the school while other students he did not know worked on the other levels, but they had to clean hallways and classrooms which made the task that much longer. If it was only the hallways it would only take about an hour._

_Since they were on the second level the trip down the stairs and toward the front entrance took no time at all. However he paused when he heard voices and peek his head around the corner of one row of lockers to see a sight that made his blood boil. Ushio, one of the most annoying upper classman Yami had ever met, was towering over the one boy in the whole school who made Yami question his sexuality. Yugi Mutou was the shortest in the school at only five foot, but he was the most adorable guy at school who had even in the girls jealous at his perfect looks. Joey and Tristan were only two of Yugi's closest friends so most likely Yugi had been waiting by the lockers for them when Ushio cornered him. _

_Even though Yugi had a close group of friends, Yami noticed he was still picked on by others older and bigger than him. However he always had a smile on his face and if his friends were around they protected him. Yami would love to be one of those close to him to protect him, but his crush on the boy held him back. There was word that Yugi was gay, but Yami never trusted rumors. He did not want to look like a fool, plus Yami never liked a guy before so he had no idea how to approach Yugi in that way._

"_Please give it back!" Yuugi cried as he tried to reach for what looked like to Yami was an upside down pyramid with a rope that turned it into a necklace. It was something Yami always saw Yugi working on and by the looks of it Yugi had almost completed it._

"_Why should I Mutou? You still owe me money and I'm sure this hunk of gold could fetch a pretty penny," Ushio sneered as he held the puzzle out of reach._

"_Please, I'll get you the money tomorrow…"_

_Yami growled as he heard Yugi beg Ushio to give him his puzzle back and offer him money. This bully was always going around saying people owed him money when in truth they owed him nothing. The guy should have been kicked out of school long ago, but no one was ever brave enough to stand up to him. He would have gone after Yami for money when he and Seto started at Domino High freshman year, but Seto quickly shut the guy up. Not that Yami ever needed saving, but it was nice to have someone who had his back._

_There was a cry of pain as Yami watched Ushio shove Yugi into the lockers and that was when Yami had enough. "Leave him alone!" Yami shouted as he rounded the corner having dropped the bucket but was still holding his mop. He figured it was best to have some kind of weapon._

_Ushio simply laughed at him, "You standing up for the shrimp?"_

"_Yeah so give him back his puzzle or else…" Yami was pretty strong, but not as strong as Ushio. He had to think of a way to end this peacefully without Yugi getting hurt more._

"_Or else what…?"_

_Yami smirked, "Or else you won't get your payment…" He knew money talked and it's not like he didn't have any. He reached into his back pocket pulling out his wallet to show Ushio he meant business. "You give Yugi back his item and I'll give you some of what he owes now. The rest you will get tomorrow…"_

_Ushio smirked, "200,000 yen is what he owes…"_

_Yami pulled some bills out of his wallet, "This doesn't even cover half, but I'll bring the rest tomorrow. But first you give Yugi back his puzzle or you won't even get this."_

_Ushio looked as if he was thinking out it, before he tossed the puzzle in Yugi's direction and went up to Yami. He grabbed the money out of his hand counting it, before he grinned down at Yami, "Bring the rest tomorrow Kaiba or I'll make your life a living hell."_

_Yami glared at the bully's retreating back, before he hurried over to Yugi. The smaller teen was sitting up holding the incomplete puzzle in his hands, however his eyes left the puzzle to look up at Yami, "Thank you, but you didn't have to do that…" He quietly said still not believing Yami was able to get his puzzle back for him._

_Yami smiled at him, "I'll do anything for those I care about…" As soon as those words left his mouth, Yami felt like slapping himself in the face. How could he be so stupid?!_

_A bright red blush lit up Yugi's cheeks as he looked back down. "Care about?"_

_Yami rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well you see… what I mean to say was… uhh…" Words had left Yami and he wasn't sure how to explain himself to his crush. _

"_I always thought Joey and Tristan were joking about it." Yugi said quietly to himself, but Yami could hear it and then Yugi looked back up at him. "Do you like me?"_

_It was Yami's turn to blush as he tried to look anywhere but at Yugi and failing miserable. "Well you see we've been in the same class since freshman year and I've see how you treat others. You have such a bright personality…"_

_A chuckle pulled Yami from his ranting as Yugi looked up at Yami in a bashful way. "I've always had a crush on you too."_

"_Really..?" Yami asked not believing what he was hearing. This was the first time he had been able to really talk to Yugi and finally Yugi was getting to know how he felt. "So maybe we could go out sometime? I mean it doesn't have to be a date, we could just hang out or something."_

_Yugi turned fully to Yami and smiled up at him. "I would love to go on a date with you." He looked down at the puzzle in his hands and then the puzzle piece he had kept tightly in his grip. Carefully he held out his hand with the puzzle piece, "Since you saved me do you think you could help me complete the puzzle?"_

"_You've worked hard on it, so you should complete it." Yami said although he couldn't tear his eyes away from the piece. Something about it seemed to be calling out to him. However Yami just figured he was tired after the long day._

_Yugi shook his head, "I've done most the work, so I see no problem with letting someone else finish it."_

_Yami carefully reached out and took the piece. He felt the cool metal against his skin before he turned his attention to the incomplete puzzle. With Yugi holding it up for him between two hands, Yami reached forward to put the last piece in its place._

* * *

_The air around them was cold as Yami continued to smirk at Ushio who stood across from him. It was midnight and with the start of a new day Yami was going to teach this bully a lesson he would not forget._

_The pair took turns using a knife to stab a stack of bills but with each turn the bill got smaller and the player was more at risk of stabbing themselves. Finally when it was Ushio turn he had to fight against using all this strength in order to get the rest of the money. The bully then developed an evil grin on his face as he went to stab Yami instead. Yami was quick to jump out of the way._

"_Penalty Game!" Yami pronounced as his smirk never left his face as he pointed a finger toward Ushio. "The Illusion of Avarice!"_

* * *

The eighteen year old teen woke up in bed in a cold sweat as the dream he just had replayed in his head. '_No...'_ He thought all of a sudden, '_It was a memory, but that last part…' _ Yami could not remember the last part with Ushio. After he had helped Yugi complete the puzzle nothing happened, Yugi simply followed him upstairs to help him and his two friends finish the cleaning so they could all go home. After they finished their job at the school, they all went home. The last thing Yami remembered was going to bed that night, then waking up and going to school the next day. Sure some teachers found Ushio in the front of the school in a pile of leaves screaming the money was all his, but Yami figured he had just finally lost it.

Yami shook his head and looked at the clock on his night stand. His alarm was supposed to go off in a few minutes so he figured he might as well get up. Every once and a while Yami would have some strange dream so he figured his mind was probably just tired from all the college work. They got their first real English paper to write at the beginning of the week and it took most of the week to write it. He hadn't been able to hang out with any of his friends or his boyfriend. This coming up weekend was so going to be needed for some relaxation.

The tired college student reached down beside his bed and grabbed a shirt. He really needed to go over to his brother's place soon or he was going to run out of clean clothes. However when he looked at the shirt, he noticed it was too small. Looking around Yami finally noticed that the other side of his bed was unmade.

"Alright either my mind is still playing tricks on me or Yugi came over last night and I just don't remember…" He mumbled to himself as he tossed the shirt to the end of the bed and reached down to grab his shirt he took off before bed. Slipping it on Yami pulled the covers away before he got out of bed, stretching his aching muscles before heading out of the room in his shirt and boxers for the bathroom. Every morning Joey didn't get up until ten minutes before they needed to leave and Tristan was normally up and about ready to leave for work by the time Yami got up. It was nice having roommates he could get along with so Yami could get ready at his own pace. Although as far as Yami's brother knew he was living by himself, because even though Seto in his own way was kind to Yugi given Yami was dating him, Seto for some reason did not like his and Yugi's friends so much. None of them got along in high school especially Seto and Joey. If Seto found out Yami was sharing an apartment with Joey, he would never hear the end of it.

The sound of a conversation happening in the kitchen drifted down the hall before Yami could enter the bathroom. Judging by the snores coming from the room across from him he knew it couldn't be Joey. He wondered who Tristan was talking to this early. Deciding the bathroom could wait he headed down the hall and entered the dinning/kitchen area to find Tristan was seated at the table and finishing the last bit of his breakfast while Yugi was at the stove cooking.

They both looked up when he entered, but Yugi was the first to offer a smile along with a, "Good morning sleepy head…"

Yami rubbed his tired eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming before looking back at Yuugi, "You came over last night?"

Yugi nodded as he went back to the eggs on the stove so they wouldn't burn. "I came over after grandpa closed the game shop for the night. You were slaving over that English paper for most of the night it's no surprise you don't remember…"

"Oh…" Yami said more to himself as he tried to recall the night before. The only thing he remembered was typing away at his laptop, but that probably explained why he didn't remember Yugi being next to him when he went to bed. "Sorry about that, I really should finish my assignments in a more reasonable time."

"It's no worry, Joey and I played video games most of the night so it's not like I was bored." Yugi said as he turned back around with a plate for Yami. "Breakfast is ready if you want it. I know Tristan gets up early for work, so I got up early enough to cook for everyone."

"I gotta say Yami you are one lucky guy…" Tristan pointed out as he grabbed his empty plate and took it to the sink. "Yugi has some mean cooking skills, Joey will probably move in with you guys if you two ever get a place of your own."

Yugi blushed at the complement as he got his own plate ready and bought it to the table. As Yami and Yugi settled themselves at the table to eat, Tristan grabbed what he needed for the day before he took off out the door. "I'm surprised Joey's not up yet…" Yugi said as he took a peak down the hall. "He normally always comes running for food."

"He'll come when he finally wakes up…" Yami said after he swallowed his first bite. "Let's just enjoy the quiet for now…"

Yugi chuckled as he settled down to eat. It was never boring at Yami's apartment and if his mother wasn't so overprotective he probably would be living with Yami by now. However his grandfather and mother still needed him at the game shop for now, so he could deal with visiting Yami's place every now and then. It was like having a second home where he always felt safe and loved.

* * *

Lunch between friends was always enjoyable. Yugi watched as Joey pretty much stuffed his face with slices of pizza and everyone else who had different types of food ate with more manners. He was sharing a sushi plate with his lover since only a few bites were good enough for him. They still had one more class after lunch and then Yugi would be going on his usual Friday date with Yami. Thankfully their professor went light on the readings they would need to do for Monday so he could relax a little over the weekend.

As he looked around at his friends he noticed something off about one of them. Tomoya had been more quiet than usual in class and during their meal. Normally he and Duke were talking about the latest RPG games. Yugi would sometimes join in, but he was more into action and adventure type games along with Duel monsters. However, today Tomoya simply picked at his food with a worried expression on his face.

Knowing him as long as he did, Yugi decided to wait until he could get Tomoya alone. If something was on his mind he wouldn't talk about it in front of the others. Out of all of them Yugi was more similar to Tomoya in one ways than one including height.

"Last bite…" Yami said catching Yugi's attention back as he held it out with his chopsticks.

Yugi smiled and happily ate the last bite off Yami's chopsticks.

* * *

On the way to their last class, Yugi held back from the others and walked at the back of the group with Tomoya. Yami looked at him funny because of it, but Yugi waved him on. When they entered the building, Yugi took the chance to place a hand on Tomoya's shoulder. The teen looked at Yugi confused so Yugi offered him a smile.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

Tomoya nodded not sure what it was about. "Yeah, is something up?"

Yugi waited until he was sure the others went to the classroom, before he asked, "No, but it seems like something is up with you. Are you okay?"

Tomoya gave him a fake smile. "Of course everything is fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just noticed you haven't been acting like yourself today. You know you can tell me anything."

"Yugi…"

"I mean it, we are friends and if something is wrong then maybe I or the others could help." Yugi urged him hoping he could confide in him.

Tomoya sighed as he checked the area around them, before he pulled Yugi over to the side out of the way of passing students. "If I tell you can we just keep this between us?"

Yugi nodded, "I won't tell the others if you don't want me to."

"Well, you know I've been living in the dorms to kind of venture out on my own," Tomoya said which got a nod from Yugi, "I thought things would be great, but yesterday I got cornered by one of the upper classman of the dorm. I've heard stories about him and that most of the dorm students stay out of his way especially the freshman. I tried to after all that happened in high school, but he caught me coming back to the dorm after studying in the library. At first I thought he was going to beat me up, but turns out he only wanted me to sell tickets," Tomoya paused to pull the ten tickets out and show Yugi. "I was confused, but he said that every month he has a show on Friday and he gets freshman to sell the tickets. Different freshman are picked each month, but if I can survive the year I'll have his respect and won't have to do it again. It was pretty obvious I didn't have a choice, as the look he was giving me were the same looks I got from the bullies in high school."

Yugi took the tickets from Tomoya to get a better look at them. If the bullies in high school were bad he really hated to find out what the bullies in college were like. The last thing he wanted was for one of his friends to relive the worst of their high school days. Honestly he thought when they started college they would be around more grow adults who did not pick on the weak. That was a complete fantasy.

He noticed the tickets held the name of a karaoke club and the name of the student who would be performing. "Do you know if he is any good? I'm not one for music myself, but if he isn't half bad I would go with you."

Tomoya cringed, "I don't think I could handle the night. He lives on the floor above me and our whole floor can hear him singing. It's not the best around and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

"Oh so he is one of those who believes he can sing, but in real life he can't." Yugi said with a laugh and Tomoya agreed. Sadly Yugi had a date that night with Yami that he did not want to break or he would go and suffer with his friend. Quickly thinking of something off the top of his head he tried to figure out a way for them both to skip out. "How about I go to the dorm after class and drop it off at the front desk. I could say I found them by the fountain and figured the person may want them back."

Tomoya looked surprised at Yugi, "You would really do that?"

Yugi nodded, "Of course, I doubt the guy is going to let you give them back. He doesn't know me and I don't live in the dorm so he can't hold anything against me. He won't have any proof you did not sell them. For all he knows you sold them and the people dropped them."

"Are you sure?"

The tri-color hair teen simply smiled at his friend and pocketed the tickets. "I won't take no for an answer. I have a feeling this plan will work just fine." He put an arm around Tomoya and led the teen to their classroom before they were late.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to set as Yami sat in the family limo calling each of his friends on his cell phone. He and Yugi had split up for the day after their last class so Yugi could go home and help his grandfather in the game shop. Yami had plans to pick Yugi up later for their date however when he arrived he found out Yugi had not come home. Since the teen did not want to worry Yugi's family, he simply made up a little white lie that Yugi might have forgotten about their date and was hanging out or studying with one of their friends. He got back in the limo and told the driver to drive around the block for a minute while he made the phone calls.

Yami knew Yugi wasn't with Joey and Tristan since the two were back at the apartment when Yami left to come get Yugi. He called Tea and Duke only to find they haven't heard from him. Tomoya wouldn't answer his phone and when he finally tried to call his boyfriend it simply went to voice mail. This all worried Yami greatly because he had no idea if Yugi was in trouble or not. It was really unlike him to go somewhere and not tell anyone.

Just as he thought about getting some help from his brother, a vision of some kind flashed before his eyes. He saw a place he had seen downtown before, but what confused him was why he was thinking about a karaoke club. Thinking back he tried to remember if Yugi had said anything about the place, but nothing came to mind. There was a dull ache that developed slowly and Yami felt as if his mind was becoming cloudy. When his head finally cleared Yami informed the driver of where he wanted to go next and sat back.

The ride was quick and silent and once they arrived, Yami told the driver he would only be a few minutes before he got out. Going inside he found the lobby empty, but judging by the sounds down the halls some of the rooms were being used for parties or a get together. He went right to the front desk which had a petite blond behind it chewing bubble gum rather loud and reading a magazine.

"Miss, did a teen looking like me come here this afternoon?"

She looked up for a minute, before she pointed her finger down the hall returning to reading her magazine. "Down the hall, three doors down on your left…"

"Thank you," He said before hurrying down the hall toward the room. A bad feeling was settling in his gut and he hoped that Yugi was okay.

When he opened the door however his anger boiled to the point of pure hatred as he found Yugi sitting on one of the couches in the room with his hands tied by rope and headphones covering his ears. Tomoya was next to him in about the same state, but sadly he looked worst by the broken glasses and the few busies on his face.

Not caring about the guy on the stage singing horrible, he marched right over to Yugi and carefully took the headphones off both the teens. He then worked on untying Yugi's hands when the guy realized Yami was in the room.

"What's the big idea marching in here during my performance?" He sneered and Yami turned to give him an 'are you kidding me look?' before turning back to untie Tomoya's hands next.

"Hey I'm talking to you!"

Yami finally turned around to face the guy keeping both the teens behind him shielded. The guy was dressed up as some cheap Elvis pretending he was really something. "Performance…? Don't make me laugh. I just see a pathetic loser who results to kidnapping to get an audience." He looked over his shoulder at Yugi, "You and Tomoya get out of here."

"But Yami…"

"Don't argue with me!" Yami snapped, which caused Yugi to wince. Normally Yami would never snap at Yugi, but Yugi knew that Yami was pissed and there would be no calming him down until he got his revenge on the guy who put him and Tomoya in that mess.

Yugi put one of Tomoya's arms around his shoulder and helped the boy walk out of the room. Once they were gone Yami's smirk developed into an evil one. As he took note of the name on the banner behind the guy, he finally asked, "Sozoji let me ask you one question. Are you a coward?"

"Whaaat…?"

"If you aren't, then don't try and escape from the little game I'm going to start!" Yami said as he turned toward the table his hands turning a strange purple color before two clowns sitting on cans appeared, but Sozoji saw none of it. He placed them on table opposite each other, "I call it… The Silence Game!" He explained as he took his place sitting in front of one of the clowns. "This toy is called 'Sound Pierrot"-That's French for 'Clown'. By a strange coincidence there's two right here in this room. If you make a noise near it, a sensor reacts and it starts dancing. By the rules of the game after the signal to start neither one of us will make a sound. We must keep perfectly silent! That's why a Pierrot has been placed in front of each of us. The first one to make a sound and make the clown dance loses. Sound good?"

"What will happen if you lose?" Sozoji asked with an evil grin as he pulled his sunglasses down to get a better look at Yami.

"I give you my life…" Yami told him without a hint of fear. No he would win this game and teach this Sozoji a lesson about messing with those he loves. "But if you lose, you have to play a penalty game."

After Sozoji agreed to the terms they were both found sitting across from each other seconds later in complete silence. A scowled had settled on Sozoji's face and Yami had a feeling he knew what the brute was thinking about. However that scowl turned into a grin a minute later and Yami took note of where the guy's eyes had fallen. On Yami's side was a glass of water and the headphone jack had gotten stuck on the rim from when Yami pulled the headphones off Yugi's head and the jack was pulled out of the amp.

Without Sozoji realizing it, Yami got a grin of his own as he watched Sozoji practically begging with his eyes that the jack would fall and make a noise. The grip the guy had on his microphone tightened and his heart started to race. Another minute passed before out of the blue the clown on Sozoji's side started to dance. The wannabe singer developed a look of confusion so Yami decided to enlighten him.

"That's the sound of your heart!" Yami explained to him as he pointed to the speaker behind Sozoji which had the sound of Sozoji's heartbeat coming out of it.

Sozoji then looked down at the microphone in his hands in disbelief. "The mike and I put the volume to max…"

A third golden eye appeared on Yami's forehead, "Your habit of holding onto the mike no matter how much it annoys people has done you in! You lose Sozoji!" He then pointed a finger straight at the guy. "Penalty Game! Beat Festival!"

When Yami left the room he left Sozoji withering on the floor yelling for the noise to stop. He told the lady at the front counter that he believed some poor guy was having a heart attack before leaving the place and getting into the back of the limo.

The sight that met him was Tomoya laid out on one of the seats while Yugi sat across from him waiting on Yami to return. Yami asked Tomoya were he wanted to go, which he responded with his parent's place since he went there every weekend, before telling his driver. As the limo drove away from the club, Yami put his arm around Yugi and kissed the top of his head. He apologized for yelling at him to which Yugi simply waved off. After that like a few times before a weight seemed to be lifted off of Yami's mind and then he was looking around him for a minute wondering what had happened since only moments before he had been trying to find out the whereabouts of his Aibou. It was like a chunk of his memories were missing since Yugi was right beside him along with a hurt Tomoya.

However when he asked what had happened, Yami did not get the respond he was looking for as Yugi explained to him the whole story about how when he tried to return some tickets to Sozoji that Tomoya was supposed to sell Sozoji knocked Yugi out. Then when Yugi came to he found himself in the karaoke room with a hurt Tomoya and Sozoji getting ready for his 'show'. He then told Yami how about an hour later Yami arrived and set both of them free.

"What did you do to Sozoji anyway?" Yugi asked as he looked up at Yami. "You were in there for a good few minutes."

"I simply gave him a warning not to mess with someone who is close to me," Yami lied honestly not remembering if he did do anything to the guy. However based on what Yugi told him, whatever Yami did or did not do to the guy he probably deserved it. His missing memories became the last thing on his mind as he focused on getting Tomoya home and saving his date night with Yugi. A movie with popcorn at Yugi's place sounded like a good idea and if Yugi's mom went to bed early Yami could probably get away with spending the night.

* * *

**Sakura: **I love making Yami the hero off to save Yugi from the dangerous people in the world. I seriously think the Yu-Gi-Oh manga would have been even better if Yami had been given his own body.

**Yumi: Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **This chapter gave me a little trouble, because for a while as I was typing it I wasn't sure whether to use Yugi as the hostage or keep it as Tea. However I came to a decision and I hope everyone enjoys it. I tried my best and I think it turned out pretty good. Once again thanks for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**Jailbreak**

The moon was high in the sky by time Yami returned to his apartment after having dinner with Yugi and his family. Yugi's father was in town for the week so Yugi thought it would be nice if they all got together. Even after getting to know the parents and long ago getting their approval of him and Yugi dating, the teen still got nervous when he was face to face with Yugi's father. Mr. Mutou had a few characteristics that matched Yugi which were the hair and eyes, but he was much taller than all the other Mutous in the family and was more muscular built. It seemed the short gene skipped Mr. Mutou and hit Yugi making his lover stuck at a below average height for a male, but thankfully he got his mother's good looks which made up for lack of height.

While Mrs. Mutou was a housewife who helped her father-in-law with his game shop, Mr. Mutou was a businessman who traveled for work to provide for his family. However even though he was never fully around when Yugi was growing up, Yugi was always excited to see him when he could. Yami was just glad his Aibou got to have a relationship with his parents. So many times Yami wished he could have his parents back, but then again if they had not died all those years ago there was no telling where Yami would be living and if he would have ever met Yugi.

The lights to the apartment were still on when Yami arrived at the door and unlocked it with his key. When he entered he found Joey passed out on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and a textbook in his lap. Tristan was nowhere to be found, but given he was always up before his other two roommates, he was probably already in bed given it was ten at night.

Yami sighed as he closed the door and walked over to the blond. With a shove of his foot, Joey's feet were off the coffee table and on the floor jerking him awake. The other looked around in confusion before his eyes settled on Yami.

"What's the deal Yami?" Joey asked with a yawn as he stretched.

"If you're going to fall asleep studying you could at least study in your bedroom." Yami informed him as he reached for the remote. The news was just coming on with some breaking news.

Joey closed his textbook and tossed it beside him. "I would, but this is the only room with a TV," He grinned up at Yami, "So how was tonight?"

"Same as usual, except pretty much only Yugi and his father talked during dinner. I never know what to say to the man even though he has been fine with me dating his only son."

"Just be lucky Yugi's not a girl or you could have been glared at all night," Joey joked as he stood up. He looked to see if Yami had even heard him only to notice Yami was staring more at the TV. The blond followed his line of vision to see the story that was playing on the news.

A male news reporter stood outside the Domino city jail that was two hours outside the city. In the background guards were running around shouting orders, but throughout the commotion the reporter continued with his story, "_Prisoner number 777 has escaped from Domino jail,"_ He said as a picture of the prisoner appeared on the screen beside him._ "He has killed one security officer in the process. He is believed to be headed toward Domino City. This male is considered armed and dangerous! Do not confront him if you see this man. Please call the number below on your screen if you see this man_…"

"Those guards must have been lazy if they let a killer escape their custody," Joey commented as he grabbed his textbook. "He'll probably be caught before long with that ugly face of his."

Yami agreed with him as he turned the TV off. "Domino is a small city it won't take long," He then moved to turn the lights off. "Best get to bed if we are going to get a good nice sleep before our quiz tomorrow."

Joey groaned at the reminder, but dragged himself to his room shutting the door behind him. Yami only chuckled as he entered his own room. College seemed like a pain at the moment, but in the long run they would all be able to get decent careers out of the education.

* * *

"Ahhh… It's finally over!" Joey yawned out as he got out of his seat to stretch his tired muscles. The professor had finally dismissed class for the day and with it being their short day that meant this was the last class for the day. After a short quiz at the beginning of class than an hour long lecture, Joey was ready to get out of there and fill his stomach with some food.

"Hey Yugi and I are going to grab a bite off campus, anyone want to join us?" Yami asked of his friends before they all went their own ways.

Yugi smiled, "I talked Yami into us trying out this new place called Burger World that just opened up here in Domino. It's said their burgers are great!" Everyone could tell he was excited about getting his hands on a good burger.

Tomoya sadly had to decline the offer explaining he had something else to do that day, before he excused himself from the group. However Joey and Duke both agreed that trying out Burger World sounded like a good idea.

"Ah…um… Yugi… About that burger world…" Tea tried to say not knowing the right words to say to her friend.

"You are coming too, Tea?" Yugi questioned.

Tea's attitude quickly changed, "No way!" She announced shocking them all, "I've heard that place is terrible! People started getting sick there the day they opened. You absolutely can't go there!"

"Really…?" Yugi asked in disbelief as he looked up at Yami. "I guess we won't go…"

Yami seemed to eye Tea as if he did not believe her, but let it go because he had never been there before himself so there was no way to really know if she was lying.

"Right! That's the last place you want to go." Tea told them as he threw her backpack on her back and got ready to leave.

"Then let's go to the calorie burger in front of the station," Yugi suggested next since he still wanted to eat a good burger for lunch.

"Sorry! I have dance practice to attend," Tea said over her shoulder as she paused from making her way to the door. "And anyway didn't you hear the news this morning? There's an escaped convict running around. We best all go straight home."

"Ack that's right!" Yugi said with slight fear as he remembered what he heard on the news this morning before he came to school. "Let's just go to my place and hang out."

Yami chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Yugi's shoulders and pulled him close. "There is no need to worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

While they talked and figured out what they wanted to do, Tea quietly left the room in a hurry, but one person did notice how quickly she wanted to leave.

"Yugi… hasn't Tea been acting strange lately?" Joey asked out of the blue causing all three to look at him in confusion.

Yugi looked to where Tea had been and noticed she was gone from the room, "Now that you mention it, she hasn't wanted to hang out with us recently…"

Joey then got this grin on his face, "If my instincts are correct, I think Tea's doing 'Escort Service' after classes…"

"Huh?" Yami said as he raised an eyebrow clearly thinking Joey had finally lost it.

"What's that?" Three pairs of eyes turned to Yugi who blushed a little embarrassed that he had no idea what Joey was talking about. "What, I haven't heard of it before…"

Yami simply laughed and hugged Yugi close. "You are too innocent for you own good. He means he thinks she is going on dates with rich old men."

Joey shrugged, "I hear some girls in our college do it on the side for a little spending money."

"Joey! Tea isn't that kind of girl!" Duke shouted at the blond with a blush on his face causing the others to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Whoa! What is your problem?" Joey turned to face Duke with a grin on his face, "Your face is red! Could it be…?"

Duke waved his hands in a nervous manner, "That's not it!"

Yami rolled his eyes at the two. It was clear Duke had a crush on Tea, but could never find the courage to ask the girl out. He had a feeling this crush went back from when he and Duke had started to hang out with Yugi's friend, but he could not be sure. In truth Yami had been focused on developing a stable relationship with Yugi to really notice if his friend had his eyes on anyone. The girls back in high school always followed Duke around due to his good looks, but Tea had never been one of those girls and that is probably why he noticed her more.

"I'll prove you wrong about Tea," Duke shouted at Joey trying to defend the only girl in their group.

Yami slapped his forehead, "This cannot end well…"

* * *

Twenty minutes later the four male teens finally caught up to Tea and were tailing her as she traveled from their campus and into the downtown area of Domino city. It was not easy being sneaky as the lunch rush in Domino had started so people were leaving their jobs to get lunch before their lunch break ended. They were finding it hard to keep up with the brown hair woman. At one point they had almost been caught when Tea turned around to look behind her and they all had to duck down into an alley way so they would not be seen.

"Whoops! That was close!" Joey said as he peaked around the corner to see Tea had started walking again, "But this intrepid reporter will continue to follow 'The Illicit Activities of a College Teen!'"

Duke slapped the blond upside the head, "Joey! That sounds like one of your movies!"

Yami sighed as he got back on his feet before turning to help Yugi up. They both had been knocked over into the alley when they were trying to hide, "This is getting ridiculous, and so what if she lied about having dance practice still doesn't mean she is doing anything Joey says she is."

"Besides I'm hungry," Yugi complained as he attached himself to Yami's arm. "Can we please go eat something?"

Joey and Duke's minds were on other things as they completely ignored the two shorter teens and moved out of the alley to continue their trail on Tea. Yami and Yugi quietly followed behind partly curious partly making sure Joey behaved himself. The fours teen walked for another ten minutes before they paused as they watched Tea walk into a building across the street from them.

"Tea has just entered a building," Joey said continuing to act like a reporter, "Is that where her sugar daddy is waiting?"

Duke glared at him not even bothering to hit him again since it would have no effect, "Will you stop that!"

"Hey guys?"

Yami, Joey and Duke all turned to look at Yugi who was pointing at the building Tea had just entered. They followed his line of vision and finally took notice that they were all standing across the street from Burger World. This really had them all curious as they carefully crossed the street wondering what Tea was doing at a place she told them was no good.

Once they got to the doors they automatically opened and revealed a certain brown hair teen in a pink skirt, a blue short-sleeve shirt with the Burger World logo, a yellow tie, and a yellow ribbon in her hair. She had a smile on her face as she greeted them, "Hello! Welcome to Burger World! Let me show you to…" However Tea's voice died in her throat once she realized who was in front of her. Slowly she backed up from them and did a quick turn to hide her fear stricken face.

The four males waited as she composed herself before she turned around with a forced smile and said, "Please follow me…" They did as she said as she showed them to a booth before she darted off somewhere not even taking their orders.

"Joey, we shouldn't have come here…" Yugi said as he moved into the booth letting Yami sit beside him. Joey and Duke took their places across from them. "Tea's mad…"

Joey chuckled, "No wonder she didn't want us to go to Burger World…"

They sat in silence after that until Tea came back a few minutes later with a tray. She tossed it down on the table the four drinks nearly spilling all over the four cheeseburgers she had bought them. Then she turned the ketchup bottle upside down and squeezed it. "Please enjoy our burgers with _plenty_ of our famous ketchup!" She stressed with her evil smile.

When she was done all four saw she had written in ketchup all over the cheeseburgers, 'TELL AND YOU DIE!' After that she turned and swiftly started to walk away.

"Hey Tea, cool it!" Joey shouted at her not believing she had just ruined a good meal. "What's the problem with us knowing?"

"Well… I guess I have nothing else to hide," Tea said as she turned to face them once again, but this time she had a nicer smile on her face. "My dance coach does not allow jobs given all our focus must be on practicing and our school work, plus there is the chance we may leave on trips for competitions. However without this job I can't save up my money so I can one day go to America after I graduate."

"America?" All her friends questioned. They knew she had dreams of being a professional dancer, but they had no idea she wanted to leave Domino for America.

"I'm going to continue my studies in New York," She said with a teasing glare, "Don't you dare laugh!"

"W…W…We would never laugh," Yugi stuttered not wanting to make Tea made again, "Right guys?"

Duke, Yami, and Joey all agreed since they all had dreams themselves and it wouldn't be right to laugh at one of their friend's dreams. "Don't worry Tea, we won't tell on you." Duke reassured her with a smile.

"But this restaurant makes you pay for hamburgers drowned in ketchup?" Joey asked with a look of disgust at the burgers laid out before them. He liked ketchup on his burger, but not this much. "This stuff looks nasty!"

Tea simply waved at them over her shoulder as she said, "Don't worry! Those are on me!"

* * *

A few minutes later, found the four male teens semi enjoying their burgers drowned in ketchup. Yami chuckled as he grabbed a napkin and wiped the corner of Yugi's mouth. "You had a little ketchup on your face dear."

Yugi blushed as he took the napkin and finished wiping his mouth. Joey snickered which got him a glare from Yami, so he quickly shut up. Duke rolled his eyes at the two as he continued to try and sneak glances at Tea in her uniform greeting guest at the door. Once Yami realized what he was doing he gave Duke a kick in the leg.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?"

"Stop acting like a creepy stalker. If you want to get her attention try talking to her outside of class more." Yami informed him. This then started a discussion on whether Duke was going to ask Tea out soon or if he was too chicken to try. None of them noticed the guy crossing the street and entering the business until it was too late.

"Alright! Anyone makes a sound and this girl dies!" All eyes turned to see the escaped prisoner holding Tea hostage with a gun to her forehead. It was easy to tell he was the one the police were looking for based on the three sevens tattooed across his forehead and the prisoner uniform he still wore. He obviously had not done anything to hide who he really was.

"Tea!" Her four friends cried not at all believing their luck.

A lot of the costumers started to freak out until the prisoner told them to shut up waving his gun. He started to chuckle at the scared faces staring back at him. "I'm not staying here long as soon as I fill my belly I'm gone!" He turned to look at Tea pointing the gun at her again. "But until then you stay with me, not a peep or you die!"

Yami kept his body shielding his lover as Yugi gripped the back of his shirt shaking like a leaf. They were both scared for themselves and Tea's life. He watched as the prisoner took the ribbon from Tea's hair and wrapped it around her eyes. Once that was accomplished he moved them over to a table in the middle of the room which caused everyone else including Yami, Yugi, Joey and Duke nearby to move back.

"Now… someone's gotta take my orders... who should I choose…"The prisoner looked around the room before his eyes landed on someone. "You! The wussy little one! You're the one!"

Yami growled and moved Yugi behind him, "Leave him out of this!" He shouted at the guy his anger taking over. There was no way Yugi was going anywhere near this murder. This guy already had Tea as his hostage and Yami was not going to let him take another one. If Yugi did something wrong this guy would probably kill him on the spot.

"Whatever you take his place!" The criminal shouted not in the least caring who bought him what he wanted. "Everyone else, get down on the floor and close your eyes! If any one of you moves, _an inch_, this girl is dead!"

Yugi looked up at his lover grabbing his arm. "Please don't go…"

Yami gave him a smile and kissed to the forehead, "Stay close to Joey and Duke, I'll be fine, you just stay safe." He pulled away and walked over to the prisoner before Yugi could grab for him again. He knew Joey and Duke would keep Yugi safe for him.

While everyone else got on the floor and did as the prisoner said, Yami collected the guy's order before heading to the restaurant's kitchen. It was a family restaurant so they did not sell alcohol and they certainly did not sell cigarettes and still being underage Yami wouldn't be able to buy alcohol anywhere else. However Yami did luck up when he went in the back and located the cooks who were hiding out when everything out front was going on. They happily gave Yami some of the cheap booze they cooked with and one of the guys so happened to be a smoker who had a freshly opened pack of cigarettes. Everything was then put on a tray with a glass and Yami carried it back out. If anything he hoped this ended peacefully.

Yami's dreams however of this ending peacefully went out the window when he started coming over to the table. Tea seemed to have figured out Yami had carried out the guys order and was coming over to them as she stood up, "Stay back Yami! It's too dangerous!"

Right before his eyes Yami witnessed as the prisoner backhanded Tea and told her to keep her mouth shut. Red hot anger filled Yami and no one ever noticed the small glow the puzzle around Yugi's neck gave off, before something seemed to change about Yami. '_How dare you do that to my friend… Your luck ran out when you chose me'_ Yami thought as he continued over to the table and placed the items down. However instead of leaving he calmly took his place across from the criminal as if he was going to have a friendly chat with him.

"Who said you could sit down?!" The guy shouted at Yami, who chuckled in response.

"I just thought I'd help you pass the time… Let's play a game if you got any guts!" Yami taunted the guy not in the least bit afraid anymore.

The escaped prisoner was clearly caught off guard, "A…A game?" He then reached out with his other hand to open the pack of cigarettes and put one in his mouth keeping the other hand with the gun pointed at Yami. "Well… a game… This could be fun…."

"However… The one to lose this game will die." Yami informed him, but the criminal was not fazed by those words. He put the pack of cigarettes down and grabbed the bottle of booze pouring himself a drink.

"Isn't that interesting… Let's hear the rules…"

While this conversation was going on Joey, Duke, and Yugi got stuck behind a big guy so they weren't able to see what was going on. As they stayed kneeled down on all fours on the floor, Yugi turned to Joey and whispered. "It's quiet what's going on?"

"I'm not sure but I'm sure both Tea and Yami are fine." Joey whispered back as he tried to see around the guy. It was hard to do without standing up and Joey couldn't take that risk.

Back with Yami he was explaining the rules of the game to the guy across from him. "This game has just one rule," He held up his hands showing all ten fingers, "As long as we sit at this table facing each other, we may each move only one of our ten fingers and once the game starts that finger cannot change. But we are free to choose any finger we like. Which finger do you choose?"

The escaped prisoner just laughed, "I choose my index finger of course. This finger is all I need to pull the trigger and blow you away!"

"Ok…" Yami said as he put his hands down then held up his left thumb. "Then I choose my thumb. After the signal to start, we are free to do anything. You can even pull the trigger."

There was a brief paused as the two glared at each other, before Yami developed another more evil smirk. "Game Start!"

"HAHAHAHA!" The criminal laughed as he held the gun up pointing it right at Yami's head. "And in one instant it's game over!" However before he could pull the trigger Yami's hand went up showing the lighter in his hands, he flipped the lid with his thumb and then flicked the lighter on with the same thumb. It was then the prisoner noticed he had yet to light the cigarette in his mouth.

"Right! I forgot to ask for a lighter… Wasn't allowed to smoke on the inside…" He said with a smirk of his own. "Okay, the last thing you can do is use your thumb to light my cigarette… I'll kill you after that!"

Yami lean across the table using the lighter to lit the cigarette, however when he pulled back he let the lighter slip from his fingers without moving them and it landed with no problem on the prisoner's hand which was still pouring his drink into the cup. "You can keep the lighter. Take it with you to hell!" Yami told him with a wicked look in his eyes.

The escaped convict realized what had happened too late as the alcohol over poured from the cup and all over the table into his lap. Yami saw the look of fear in his eyes as he stood up. "Just try firing your gun. The recoil will make you drop the lighter for sure! Oh and by the way that's Russian vodka. It's one hundred and eighty proof which is ninety percent alcohol." He informed the criminal as he reached out and grabbed Tea's hand pulling her away from scene. Neither one saw when the cigarette fell from the guy's mouth and lit his whole body on fire, the only thing people heard were the screams before they all looked up to see what had happened. A manager in the restaurant ordered employees to try and put out the fire before it took the whole restaurant down while the manager went to call the police.

Far enough away from the blaze, Tea stopped and finally took her blindfold off. She turned toward Yami who was shaking his head, then stopped to blink his eyes as if he was fighting a dizzy spell. "Yami…" She was about to question him, when out of nowhere Yami was attacked by a crying Yugi.

Yami hugged him back and wiped away the smaller's tears. "Hey no need to cry I'm okay…"

"You had me so worried…" Yugi cried before he buried his face in Yami's chest refusing to let go of the taller male.

Their other two friends got up off the floor. Duke went over to Tea to check if she was okay, which she nodded shakily. The incident really shook her up so she pushed to the back of her mind that she just imagined Yami playing a game with the criminal to save her. Joey ran over to Yugi and Yami glad to see both of his friends were okay.

"What an idiot can't believe he set himself on fire." Joey commented as he gave Yami a pat on the back. "Glad to see you two are still with us."

Yami nodded as he looked back at the scene. Two employees had put out the fire with fire extinguishers, but the body was badly burned and it was obvious the guy was dead. He kept Yugi's face covered as they waited on the police, there was no point in Yugi being traumatized any more than he probably already was. Once the police got there and took statements, Yami was going to take Yugi straight home so they could both relax and forget about the day.

* * *

As much as Yami hoped they wouldn't find out it seems the news reporters caught word of what had happened and by time the police got through with everyone and allowed them to leave, cameras had already been set up. Yami and his friends did get away without being questioned more, but they were caught on camera in the background. All their families found out and there were a lot of worried phone calls. When Yami took Yugi home, Mrs. Mutou hugged the two with the strength of an ox and it took both Mr. Mutou and Yugi's grandfather to get her to let go. The both of them were ushered upstairs where they were asked what had happened along with being papered by Mrs. Mutou. Mostly Yugi answered their questions and when they were finally done, Yugi was able to get them both away from his parents and grandfather giving them peace and quiet in Yugi's room. Yami could understand their worry and sometimes wished he still had his parents, but the phone call he got from his younger brother Mokuba worked just as well. He had to inform the younger Kaiba that he would come spend the night with them in order to get Mokuba to calm down and hang up the phone. Both of his brothers were slightly distance from Yami when he started to date Yugi. He had a lover and spent more time with his friends than his brothers. The older Kaiba could slowly see a change in Mokuba, but Yami knew the younger had to understand he still loved them but he did have a life he needed live. Seto was always quiet and kept to himself, so Yami knew he cared for his brothers, but in a way he never fully liked the choices Yami made about his life. It was a lot of family drama that sometimes Yami just never wanted to deal with.

"You don't have to stay long if you don't want to…" Yugi told him as he sat up from lying down beside Yami on his bed. They had just been relaxing when Yami got the phone call. "I'm sure Mokuba and Seto are worried about you and just want to see for themselves that you are safe."

Yami sighed as he sat up also, "I know they worry, mostly Mokuba, but I just want to be sure you are going to be okay. You were pretty shaken up when we left Burger World."

Yugi smiled and lean over to kiss Yami on the lips. "I'll be fine, it was a lot to take in, but we and all our friends are safe. I knew you would protect me no matter what happened."

"Promise to call me if you need to talk," Yami urged not wanting Yugi to feel as if he couldn't talk to someone about what happened. He had been there also so he would be the best person for Yugi to talk to.

Yugi chuckled, "I'll call to say goodnight, but other than that you go and spend time with your brothers."

Seeing he wasn't going to win and get to stay a little longer, Yami stole another quick kiss from Yugi before he left. Sometimes Yami hated the clingy feeling he got when he was around Yugi, because he knew the teen needed his space, however he wanted to do everything in his power to keep Yugi happy and safe. Yugi was like no other person in the world and he meant so much to Yami. As long as Yami walked the earth nothing would harm his lover that is the vow Yami told himself every day trying to keep to that promise.

* * *

**Sakura: **I thought about putting Yugi in Tea's place being held hostage, but decided to stick with the manga. This chapter worked out better than I thought. I tried to add a few scenes that were not in the manga to give it a little of my own twist so it wasn't completely like the manga. The next chapter in the book is not one of my favorites, but I got an awesome way I have planned for writing it.

**Yumi: Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Small Note**

**Sakura:** Thanks for the continued reviews! Now I will say this one was not one of my favorites from the manga so I did a good bit of changes to make it interesting enough. Hopefully you all enjoy it!

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**The False Prophet**

Roughly a week after the incident at Burger World all had been forgotten and everyone moved on with their lives. Joey and Yami were making their way to campus on foot early one morning to meet up with their friends before classes started. The blond beside Yami was complaining about the test they were about to have tomorrow. It was the first one of the semester for that class and the professor had already informed them there would be at least four more before the semester was up. Yami was just glad that it was only one class at the moment and he didn't have a test in every class.

"I understand mid-terms and finals, but why do we have to have a test when we are only a month into school…" Joey grumbled with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Joey it's not the same as high school these classes only last half a year so they want to make sure we are learning something. It could be worst and tomorrow we could have a test in every class." Yami informed him.

Joey's eyes widened at that. "Don't even joke like that. If we had a test in every class I think I would die."

"I'm sure you will do fine Joey," His tri-colored hair friend told him as he patted Joey on the arm. "We are all going to get together and study in the library after our last class. I'm sure we can shove plenty of information into your brain before the night is up."

Joey rolled his eyes as they continued their walk. They were about a block away from the campus when it happened. A light fixture fell nearly hitting Joey if he had been only one more step forward. Both Yami and Joey jumped back and looked up to see a worker had been working on the light when it broke free and fell.

"Sorry about that!" The worker called down at them, "Are you all right?"

"We're fine!" Yami called up before he grabbed Joey's arm and pulled him away from the scene.

Joey was still pretty shaken as they made it to the front gate of the campus. "That was so a sign of bad luck…" He mumbled to himself, which caused Yami to roll his eyes as he dragged the blond to the meeting spot.

* * *

A day full of classes and everyone was tired however they still had to study for that test the next day. So after a quick bite Yugi, Yami and their friends all grabbed their things and headed for the library on campus. While walking passed one of the girls' dormitories they noticed a rather large crowd standing near the front steps. It was then Tea informed them that those were her dorms and that a student living there claimed to be a psychic and did a reading once a week for anyone as long as they were willing to pay.

"Wait a minute," Joey said stopping before the group could go any further. "There is a psychic at our campus?"

The rest stopped and Tea sighed as she filled him in, "They say she can see the future and that her predictions are really accurate. Large groups of students come here since she will only see clients once a week due to her schedule. Anyway I'm not into that stuff, but…."

"Right on! I gotta get my fortune told!" Joey exclaimed out of the blue causing all his friends to bow their heads in shame. He then grabbed Tea and Yugi dragging them along toward the group leaving Yami, Duke, and Tomoya to hurry behind them.

Once they got over there, Joey was already moving some people out of the way so they could be closer to the front. Some moved out of the way while others glared and shouted at Joey to wait his turn. After he found a decent spot Joey let go of his friends to see if he could see the so called psychic. There were mostly girls around and it seemed Joey became embarrassed by that, because after a minute a smirk developed on his face.

"Geez! I can't believe you dragged me here, Tea." Joey said out loud causing students to turn to look at him and his friends.

"What?" Tea looked mortified by that, "Who dragged Who here?!"

While the two turned to glare at each other, a lackey of the psychic yelled at them, "Quiet over there!" It was easy to tell she was a part of this whole thing based off the headband around her forehead with a pentagram attached to it. There was another girl on the other side of the table trying to keep the line in order with the same headband on her head. "Lady Anita is meditating to raise her awareness. Your negative energy is blocking the flow of her power. If you are going to be noisy leave!" The girl continued to yell before she went quiet and moved back to her side of the table.

The so called psychic was about Tea's size with long blond hair and she too wore a headband around her forehead underneath her bangs. There was also a purple cape around her shoulders held closed at the base of her neck by a gold clip. The psychic was currently sitting at the table with her eyes closed and another female student was standing in front of her.

"Ahhh… all becomes clear! As long as you don't die, you will continue to live! Heed my words!" She spoke with a soft voice and not in some weird commanding tone.

The girl across from her squealed and nodded her head before she rushed to two other girls who had been waiting on her.

Dark brown eyes finally opened and landed on the group, "Next in line…" She said with a smile not paying the least bit of attention to the line that was formed.

"Go get your fortune told, Tea!" Joey snickered causing Tea to smack him.

"Why me?!"

Before a decision could be made a small tremble went through the area causing everyone to freeze for a second. It came and went as if it had never been there. The small group of friends looked at each other confused by it just as much as everyone else.

"Was that an earthquake?" Tomoya voiced up, they had a small one earlier that week, but it was not enough to cause any damage.

The others shrugged and there attention was bought back as Lady Anita spoke up again. "You there…" She was pointing at Joey. "You just said "Get your fortune told" didn't you?"

Joey raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I'll have you know. I'm not a fortune teller!" Lady Anita defended herself as she stood up. "To be sure, things like palmistry, fortunetelling, chi reading, Feng Shui, and astrology attempt to predict the future. But those are just based on statistics calculating the odds. Methods of the past!" She moved around her table and walked up to them. "I have the power of premonition! The ability to see the future!"

The group of friends looked at each other not sure to believe this woman or not. It seemed she could tell judging by their faces as she reached into her cape. "You don't believe me? Then let me show you proof…" She handed Joey a piece of paper, "My powers gave me a vision of the future this morning. I wrote it down here. Read it aloud!"

Joey took the paper and looked at it before he read aloud, "Earthquake today."

"Let's hear it for Lady Anita!" One of her followers shouted, causing her fans to clap and cheer for her and her abilities.

Yugi turned to look at Yami but he did not seem convinced by it which is how Yugi felt too. When he turned back around Anita was in front of him shocking the smaller teen. She towered over him and it made him curse his shortness. Gently she grabbed his hand and led him over to her table. While Anita moved back behind it, Yugi stood in front of it not sure what to do.

Anita held out her hand, "Let me see your hand once more and I will make a true believer out of you."

Deciding to humor her and show Joey the truth, Yugi gave her his hand to which she held tightly and ran both her hands all over it. While Yugi was starting to get a little creeped out, Yami was fuming at the way she was touching his Aibou.

'_How dare she fondle Yugi's hand like that…' _Yami growled in his mind. Before he could go over there and snatch his poor lover back, she had let go of Yugi's hand.

Anita closed her eyes as she said, "I see a wonderful woman appear before your eyes! She's someone close to you already. You will fall so deeply in love that you will swoon before her." She opened her eyes with a smile.

Yugi tried not to laugh, but it was hard to keep in the chuckles. He finally let loose a small laugh that even had his friends laughing.

"Do you not believe me?" Anita questioned sweetly.

"No, honestly I don't," Yugi told her as he composed himself. "Kind of hard to fall deeply in love with a woman, when I have a boyfriend."

Whispers moved like rockets around the crowd as Anita's eyes widen. Yugi walked away from her and over to Yami where he wrapped his arms around his waist. "Never had a thing for woman to begin with…" He proudly said not in the least bit ashamed for people to hear he was gay. He had his friends and family that supported him and that was all he needed.

Yami smirked as he wrapped an arm around Yugi's shoulders keeping him close. He knew Yugi had only eyes for him and no other man or woman would take him away from him. "I hate to be rude, but I'm sure psychic powers really exist, however I get the feeling most psychic's like yourself are fakes…" He stated knowing he was getting under the woman's skin. He saw the looks she had been giving Yugi when they walked up and that was enough to make him not like her.

It seemed one of her lackey's did not take kindly to Yami's little statement as she shouted, "What was that? Are you saying you don't believe in Lady Anita's power? You saw her predict the earthquake!"

Anita held up her hand causing a hush to settle over the crowd. "Are you saying my powers are faked?"

"Well no, but I saw a trick like that on TV…" Yami stated loving every minute of this as he saw her blush with anger. "Just for example, if you wrote 'earthquake today' and other predictions on note cards and hid them in your clothes that wouldn't be a real predication…"

The crowd interrupted into more whispers and this time her fans were really starting to question her abilities. Some had even started to leave, so Anita stood up quickly and pointed a finger right at Yami. "I can see your future! Countless letters will fall from the heavens and bring disaster upon you!"

Yami simply laughed it off as he turned to walk away with Yugi beside him. Their friends followed each trying to contain their own laughs at how silly the girl was acting. She was in college for crying out loud and it was time to grow up.

None of them saw the glare directed at Yami's back as they left.

* * *

The library was not busy on the first floor given it only contained the front desk, a small computer area, and a few tables big enough for groups to study. Most students went upstairs where lounge areas were with all the books. Some found it easier to do research with the shelves of books in front of them instead of taking a pile down to the first floor or checking them out. Everyone had their own way of doing research and studying, but Yugi's group was determined to sit down and study for their test as a group unlike what they did in high school.

While they got their textbook and notes out, Yami's mind seemed to be elsewhere. He had this weird feeling that something was going to happen. He flipped the pages in his textbook to the first chapter determined to study however 'countless letters' kept popping into his mind.

Yugi looked beside him at Yami noticing he seemed a little distracted, however before he could voice his concern. Joey reached across the table and poked Yami in the forehead with his pencil eraser.

"Don't get so down, Yami! That girl's predictions are useless," Joey told him with a grin. It was a good thing quiet talking was allowed on the first floor. It was hard to keep Joey quiet in any place for too long.

"But I heard this rumor…" Tea butted in causing all eyes to turn to her. "Anita's power became famous after this one prediction came true. Apparently she predicted a fire at a student's house, three days before it happened. Luckily the student survived, but she is still in the hospital."

Joey got this chilling look in his eyes as he looked at Yami.

Yugi chuckled and stood up, "Well I don't believe her predictions. Nothing is going to happen to Yami just like I'm not going to leave him for some woman," He said as he kissed the top of Yami's head, before slipping away quickly telling them he needed a restroom break.

* * *

The first floor restroom for the men said it was out of order, so Yugi sighed as he made his way upstairs to see if the second floor had one. Thankfully there was one and he quickly did what he needed to do before walking back out getting ready to go back to his friends. As he rounded the corner to the stairs he found his path blocked as Anita stood in his way.

She had a sad smile on her face as she looked at Yugi. "Hey, I wanted to apologize about before. I had no right to treat you or your friends the way I did. It's just when I saw who you were…"

"You thought you could use your charm and get a date with me." Yugi finished for her, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of all those fans, but it's not right to trick people to get your way. I have a feeling one day you will find someone."

Not wanting to keep his friends waiting he gave her a smile and carefully moved pass her to be on his way. However he did not get far as the next thing he knew he had a rag over his nose and mouth and a sweet smell came to him as he breath in. He started to feel light headed as he fell back into Anita's arms and the last thing he heard before he blacked out was, "My predictions are infallible!"

* * *

Ten minutes and Yami was started to get worried. He knew Yugi did not need him for every little thing, but he figured his little lover would have been back by now. The tapping of his pen against his textbook must have gotten annoying to his studying friends as Duke turned to him, "Dude if your that worried go look for him."

"Yugi is a big boy I'm sure he is fine, give him some space," Joey added with a glare at Duke. Duke glared right back and thus their glaring contest started.

Those two would never change, but something did not feel right, so Yami got up from his chair and walked away. He wanted to make sure Yugi was really alright and wasn't sick or something of the sort. When he found the restrooms and saw that the men restroom was out of order, he started to see what may have been taking his little one so long. Deciding to check the second floor first, he went to the stairs and started to climb them. A noise from above got his attention as he looked up just in time to see a cart of books was coming down right at him. Shock over took Yami's body as he thought 'Countless letters!'

A split second later Yami moved out of the way just in time as the cart continued its journey down the stairs making a mess on the first floor once it crashed at the bottom. A dark look over came Yami as he looked up in time to see a certain lackey running away with that headband on her head. 'Now I know, Anita is a menace, who makes her predictions come true.' He thought with disgust.

'But if that's the case…' He continued with his thoughts as he walked back down the stairs. "Yugi is in danger!" Yami concluded aloud with a growl. His eyes closed briefly a vision coming to him, before he took off running out of the library.

* * *

There was a small auditorium about two minutes away from the library and this is where Yami's vision took him. It was used for practice for the drama students to prepare their props and get ready for their shows. When Yami entered and moved passed the lobby into the main stage area, he found a sight that made him fill with anger. An animalistic growl escaped his throat as he saw Yugi tied to a chair unconscious on the stage. A table had been set up in front of him with a plate of food and a drink. Across that table sipping her own drink was none other than Anita. She was carrying on a conversation as if Yugi was talking to her and this was a date.

"So you think you got away with it?" Yami spoke loud enough to gain Anita's attention. He began walking to the stage loving the shocked look on her face. "Too bad Anita, your prediction failed!"

Anita was at a loss for words as Yami hopped up on the stage and walked over to the table. He reached out and picked up the bottle that was in the middle which so happened to be the chloroform she had used on Yugi to knock him out along with the rag. No doubt if Yugi woke up she planned to knock him out again if he chooses not to be with her.

"Well 'Prophet', let's play a game!" Yami said with a smirk loving the way he made her squirm in her sit. "If I lose, I'll acknowledge your psychic powers."

"What if I win?" Anita asked finally finding her voice as she stood up. In one quick move Yami cleared the table so that they could play their game.

"I'll let you go on a real date with Yugi," He told her knowing she wouldn't pass that up. There was no way he was going to lose so he wasn't worried. He let her watch as he laid down pieces of paper randomly on the table then placed the chloroform back in the middle, making sure each piece of paper had a corner underneath the bottle. Before he explained the rules or started the game, he untied Yugi and placed his little angel on the stage away from their game.

When he turned back to the wretch of a woman he started to explain the rules, "The rules are simple. I spread these pieces of paper on the table and place the bottle on top of them. The players, you and I, take turns pulling out one sheet of paper at a time. You can't touch the bottle of course." He looked at her to make sure she was listening. "The one who drops the bottle loses the game, although the loser won't be conscious to know that."

Anita started to laugh, "I've won already! I can see you snoring on the floor," she said continuing to use her fake psychic abilities.

"Then let's Ro-Sham-Bo to see who goes first." He put out his fist as she did also and in the end he beat her and got to go first. With speed like lightening he did not even think about it as he grabbed a sheet and pulled it out making the bottle spin for a minute, thankfully it settled although being much closer to the edge of the table. "Phew! Now it's your turn."

"Hmph… I do not see a future where I drop this bottle," Anita sneered grabbing a sheet of paper and yanking it out from under the bottle. The bottle did a spin before settling even closer to the edge. "This is what my psychic powers can do!"

"Well this is a pinch…" Yami mumbled to himself as he reached for another sheet of paper. He took a deep breath before yanking it out quickly. The bottle wobbled a good bit before it settled once more, but this time half of it was off the edge of the table.

Anita's eyes widen in disbelief and knew that no matter what piece of paper she pulled out or how quickly the bottle would fall either way.

Yami chuckled, "Now what? You can't yank any more out. There is only one way to remove a page. If you're really a psychic levitate the bottle."

A scowl developed on Anita's face as she glared at him, before putting all her attention on the bottle. "I'll show you my power!" Her eyes closed for a minute and after another second went by of nothing they reopened and she smirked at Yami, "You see it don't you? You see the bottle floating in the air!"

"That is only your imagination," Yami informed her since in truth the bottle still was sitting on the edge. "Why don't you try pulling the paper out? That'll prove everything!"

Nervousness started to get to Anita as she slowly pulled the page out believing the bottle was floating, but the bottle simply fell to the ground breaking and covering her in the sweet smell of chloroform. As she fell to the ground fast asleep, Yami took notice of the note cards attached to the inside of her cape.

"Well, look at all the predictions in your cloak…" Yami spoke to her as if she was still awake, "You probably won't wake up until tomorrow. By that time everyone in the school will know the truth about your psychic powers. I doubt you'll remain popular after that."

He then moved back over to Yugi who was still out of it. Carefully he picked his Aibou up bridal style with a smile, "Over here we have a sleeping beauty…" As he stood their staring at his boyfriend a wave of dizziness hit him. When it went away Yami blinked his eyes and looked down at Yugi. He noticed the soft glow the puzzle gave off then went away.

"What happened?" He turned with Yugi still in his arms and noticed Anita passed out on the floor. There was a broken bottle of chloroform next to her, but he had no idea what had happened. "Did I save you?" Yami asked mostly to himself as Yugi snuggled closer to him.

The last thing he remembered was being almost ran over by a cart of books, but that was it. His memories ended there and that was what scared Yami. This wasn't the first time he felt like this and he knew it wasn't normal for him to feel this way. For now Yami decided to put his thoughts to rest until he could get Yugi to wake back up. Yami honestly had no idea what was going on with himself lately, but there was no way he could tell Yugi or his friends about it. They meant the world to him and he couldn't lose them.

* * *

Amethyst eyes slowly blinked open after being closed for roughly over thirty minutes. Yami had been worried Yugi wasn't going to wake up for the rest of the day, but when he looked down and saw Yugi stir he knew his little one was coming around. He had found a nice shady spot underneath a tree not far from the auditorium for him to sit and wait on Yugi to wake up. It would look odd if he tried to walk home with an unconscious Yugi, so he found a decent spot to wait it out. Once that was done, he waited a few minutes after he had sat down before he sent a quick text to Tea telling the others not to worry about them, that Yugi had not been feeling good and he was taking him to the clinic on campus. He also told her that if Yugi felt slightly better they would come back so they could continue studying together. He hated lying to them, but he didn't want them rushing to the clinic to come see Yugi when in truth they weren't there.

Yugi groaned and reached his heavy hands up to wipe at his eyes. He could fell a headache starting to form as his mind began to process what had happened. As his memories returned and he remember the last thing that happened before he black out Yugi sat up quickly nearly hitting Yami in the chin. However the movement was too much for Yugi as he gripped his head in pain.

"Whoa slow down…" Yami urged him as he pulled Yugi back to him and let Yugi lean against his shoulder instead. "You've been out for a while and chloroform can have side effects."

"I feel like I was hit by a truck," Yugi moaned out as Yami started to run his fingers through Yugi's hair to help soothe the pain. "Where's Anita?"

"She knocked herself out with chloroform." Yami informed him which wasn't a total lie, "I went looking for you when you took so long to return to the table and I saw her dragging you away. When I tried to stop her the bottle she had fell out of her pocket and broke on the ground. Thankfully no one else was around and I was a good distance away so I wasn't hit with the smell."

Yugi sighed and snuggled more into Yami's side, "Women are crazy. I knew something wasn't right when she confronted me outside the men restroom. I tried to just walk away, but then something was thrown over my mouth and nose, knocking me out." He turned his head up to look at Yami, "Thank you for coming to find me."

Yami smiled and kissed Yugi's forehead, "Anytime Aibou, there was no way I was going to let her take you away from me."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Yugi started to get the feeling back in his body and the headache became only a dull ache. "Do our friends know what happened?" He asked to break the silence almost forgetting about them.

"No, after I got you away from Anita, I texted Tea and told her you were not feeling good so I was taking you to the clinic on campus. I didn't want them to worry about the almost kidnapping. You know how our friends can get."

Yugi lightly chuckled, "Tea would be mother hen for a week. I think its best we just keep this to ourselves."

"Agreed, now do you feel up to going back to finish studying?" Yami asked since he would take Yugi home if Yugi was not up to studying anymore.

"Nah… I should be fine. Anyway we have our first test tomorrow and I really need to be ready for it." Yugi smiled up at Yami to show he was okay, before he allowed Yami to help him up. Together the two walked hand and hand back to the library.

Thankfully their story about Yugi not feeling good was pretty believable as Yugi did not look one hundred percent after being knocked out with chloroform. When their friends did question what the people at the clinic said, Yugi simply told them they thought it was just an upset stomach from something he ate at lunch and that tomorrow he should be fine. The others bought the lie and the group continued with their studying although Tea and Joey watched Yugi very closely in case he felt sick again.

Since it hadn't really been an upset stomach, Yugi was able to get a good amount of studying in before they called it a day just before dinner and the group parted ways. Tea and Tomoya returned to their dorms on campus and Duke headed to his home, while Yami and Joey walked back to their apartment with Yugi. Once there Yami borrowed Joey's truck to take Yugi home so he wouldn't have to take the bus. The events of the day had shaken Yugi up about the crazy people out there in the world, but he still felt safe knowing he had his boyfriend to come to his rescue if he needed him.

* * *

**Sakura: **So Yami is starting to realize there is something off about him…. There will be more of that as the story develops… It took me a while to figure out if I wanted to do Tea or Yugi with the creepy stalker, but then I decided it would be more fun to write with it being Yugi and some crazy girl who likes him. It wasn't shown in this chapter but let's just say Anita is a huge fan of Yugi's due to him being the King of Games. She got lucky that Yugi came by the girls' dorm with his friends and thus the kidnapping formed in her head when Yugi made a fool out of her in front of everyone.

**Yumi: Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **Thanks for the all the reviews and there was one review from a reader wondering how far I am going with this story. I waited to answer the question here because I want everyone who reads this story to know the answer. I will be doing every chapter from the first seven mangas of Yu-Gi-Oh, which is known as season 0 to most. Already mentioned is that Yugi has already gone through Duelist Kingdom so that will not be included later on. Depending on when this story ends I may do a sequel that contains Battle City and the Millennium World. I'll keep everyone up to date on what is going on when the story finally gets near the end. For now please enjoy another chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**Into the Fire**

"Remind me why we are doing this again?" Joey asked of Yugi as he and his friend walked toward the huge gymnasium on campus. This was where they were headed to meet Tea who said she needed their help with something. The gymnasium was huge and was mostly used for the wrestling and basketball athletics, but there was a smaller gym connected to it that which was used for the cheerleaders and dance teams to practice.

"Because Tea is our friend and she asked for our help. The school festival is this weekend and her team needs help coming up with ideas for what they are going to do to promote and raise money for their team." Yugi explained once again to Joey. Tea had approached him first thing that morning about him coming to meet her after practice that afternoon to help her and the team come up with what they should do for the school festival. They needed something that would gain people's attention so they would spend money so the dance team could raise money for new uniforms and for trips. Tea had always been more organized than most people so when the dance coach needed someone to take charge that semester for planning their part in the festival Tea stepped forward. Apparently most of the veteran and rookie dancers were too lazy to do anything else. Tea was still a rookie herself but she hoped to gain some respect from her fellow dancers and coach for stepping up to do this.

This was going to be Yugi and his friends' first college festival. It was apparently done one month after school started every semester to raise money and promote the athletic teams, fraternities, sororities, and clubs throughout the campus. It was held over the weekend so friends and family of all the students were welcomed to come and have fun. Yugi was looking forward to it and he was more than happy to help out Tea when it seemed her and her team could not come up with something to do.

Tea had asked all her friends to come since the coach would not be at this meeting. That was one thing she did hate about the coach was her strict rules about no hanging out with boys. In the eyes of her coach they were nothing but trouble and if they wanted to make it anywhere they would only focus on dancing, not that Tea ever followed those rules what with having a job behind her back and hanging out with all her guy friends. However Yugi and Joey were the only ones available at that time. Duke had something to do after class, but Yugi just figured he didn't want to be around a bunch of girls. Tomoya had become a member of a manga club, so he was off with his own group trying to plan something for the festival. After that thing with Sozoji weeks back and the bully never returning to school, Tomoya was having fun living in the dorms and was making friends outside their small circle. Yami skipped out on going when he got a call from Seto but a few minutes after classes ended and hurried off. Yugi honestly had no idea what the call had been about, but he figured Yami would tell him about it later. So that left Joey and Yugi to wait around on campus until about the time Tea told them to meet her in the gymnasium.

Now they were entering the much larger gym and headed down another hallway to the smaller gym. Inside they found Tea's dance team sitting on the bleachers while Tea stood on the floor with a chalkboard behind her. It had been erased and cleaned so she could use it to write down ideas the team came up with.

Tea smiled when she spotted her two friends and waved them over. The team said nothing as Yugi and Joey took places on the bleachers to the side so they weren't in the way. She then called the meeting to order causing the girls on her team to quiet down.

"Okay! We need to decide what to do for the school festival. We need to present our idea to our coach so she can get it approved before we can start preparing for this weekend. We have only a week to get this done. If anyone has good ideas raise your hand." Tea informed them. The rookies were paying attention, while the veterans looked bored. Thankfully this semester the rookies outweighed the veterans since some had already graduated when Tea joined, so Tea felt like she had a chance to prove herself.

A few of the rookies raised their hands so Tea took her time calling out to them and getting ready to write down their ideas. In the end they would vote on the best idea.

"I think a haunted house!" One of the girls called out, while another quickly shot down her idea.

"No good! I hear one of the fraternities has already put in for that."

"How about making Yaki Soba?" Another girl called out and with no objections Tea wrote it on the board.

Joey rolled his eyes at their weak ideas, "This festival is supposed to be about entertainment. You girls are dancers, you have to show some guts to steal the audience from the others." A smirk developed on his face as he said the next part, "That's why I think you should use sex appeal. You could call it 'The real college girl cabaret!' You could wear costumes to appeal to every guy's fantasy and…"

He didn't get to say anymore as the girls all glared at him and started to throw things from pencils to balls of paper. Yugi hide behind the blond until the girls settled down and went back to ignoring them.

"Next time just keep your mouth shut," Yugi whispered to his friend with a snicker. Sometimes Joey did not know when to keep his mouth shut.

Joey shrugged, "Only trying to help…"

"Yeah, the wrong kind of help…"

A few others girls suggested a few things like a costume contest to cooking a different type of food called Takoyaki. Tea wrote everything down, but no good idea seemed to stick out yet. Since this was getting nowhere Tea decided it was time to use her back up plan.

"Yugi what do you think?"

Yugi looked up at his name being called. An idea had already come to mind this morning when she mentioned to him they needed help in deciding what to do, however he had no clue how the girls would feel about it. "I'd have to say games. Carnival games always do the best at festivals."

The gym was silent as everyone thought over the idea. However then a few rookies started to discuss it and before long all the girls including the veterans were swapping ideas for carnival games they could do at the festival. Yugi smiled glad he could have been of some help. He had learned long ago from his grandfather that no matter what gender or age games were always a joy to everyone.

"Then we're all for carnival games!" Tea said with a wink to Yugi silently thanking him. "I'll run the idea by our coach, but let's go ahead and think of some games we can do for the festival."

The next hour was filled with the girls throwing ideas for games back and forth. Most of them were quick to include Yugi and asked him what he thought was best. Joey was a little jealous of his friend gaining all the girls attention, but he knew even though Yugi was blushing in embarrassment it was because of the attention not because of the women. No Yugi was one hundred percent loyal to Yami and would never look at another the same way he looked at his boyfriend.

In the end all the girls decided on three games which were Bluebeard's Attack, Bottle Toss, and Shooting Gallery. Two out of the three games would catch guys' attention as they tried to prove themselves at how tough they were or to impress any ladies. The Bluebeard game was mostly to catch the eye of any children who came around because some college students had children. Yugi was a master at games and he knew after working in a game shop what to do to get the crowds over to them. This festival would be a huge success for the college dance team.

* * *

After being in college for a month and a half Yugi never thought he would be helping his friends create the perfect carnival games for the college dance team. Tea had run the idea by her coach who then sent in the idea to the board who were in charge of the whole festival. They thankfully got the all clear to start work on their project so it would be ready by that weekend.

A lottery was held to give out placements to all those who would be setting up booths and the dance team got lucky and ended up with a great spot. It was right in the middle of the campus near the fountain plaza and during the festival would have the most foot traffic.

Most of Tea's friends were able to chip in and the dance team did not mind the extra help. Throughout the whole week they prepared the games when not in classes or when the dance team was not practicing. Yugi, Joey, Yami, and Duke throughout the week helped with most of the building. Tristan even gave them a hand when he was not at work. Tomoya was the only one who wasn't around since he was helping his club with their booth.

By the time Friday morning rolled around they were in the final stretch as the festival would be taking place late Saturday morning. Due to clubs needing to get their booths finished by that day, all classes were canceled giving students time to work or have a free day if they weren't participating in the festival. The campus was busy with life as students worked as much as they could before the deadline that night.

At the carnival games booth, most of the manual labor went to Joey and Duke as they helped set up everything, while Yugi and the dance team girls were busy decorating the area around them. Tea over saw everything and kept everyone organized and on track. Yugi wished his boyfriend could have been there to help, but Mokuba had something going on at his school that Yami did not want to miss since he had the day off from classes. Yugi couldn't blame him, but made him promise to come as soon as the thing with Mokuba was over so they had more help.

Duke was making sure their sign was going to hold up by putting some extra nails in it. Joey was inside their booth finishing the final touches on the barrel for the Bluebeard Attack game. While the girls worked everyone else, Yugi sat in a corner finishing up the Bluebeard mask for whoever was going to wear it. He wasn't a manual labor kind of guy, but he had an eye for design.

After a few minutes Yugi held up the mask with a cheer, "The Bluebeard mask is finished!" It had taken him all of yesterday afternoon to make it and most of the morning to put the paint job on it.

"Hey Yugi," Yugi turned to see Joey hammering the last few nails in on the barrel, "I'm almost done here."

"That's great! You're really good at building stuff Joey."

"Everyone has at least one skill…" Tea teased as she approached the two.

Joey shrugged it off, "I've been making plastic models and garage kits for a long time." He stood up and put his tools down before lifting the top of the barrel, "Have a look!"

The blond stepped into the barrel and put the top down before he popped up out of the hole on the top. "What do you think? It's perfect!"

"That's so cool!" Yugi told him, he remembered playing Bluebeard pirate as a kid and it was cool seeing it become a life size game.

Joey started to snicker, "I wonder who'll be the pirate. I'll get a good laugh at 'em!"

"Why not you, Joey?" Tea questioned causing Joey to freeze in fear, "The size is perfect!"

Yugi held up the mask, "I made this to fit your head Joey." He said with a grin.

"What?" Joey hollered not believing his luck.

"That's it, you're Bluebeard!" Tea declared, before she noticed a group of males were headed their way with a massive grill. She was confused when they stopped in front of their booth and walked away from her friends to check it out.

"What are you guys doing?" The only one not carrying the grill growled at her. It was obvious he was the leader of the group.

"We're getting ready for the school festival," Tea informed him.

The rather large male sneered at her, "Don't be ridiculous! This school festival space is the stomping grounds for our fraternity!"

Yugi just had this feeling that something wasn't right so he walked over to Tea to make sure nothing happened to her with Duke appearing at her other side. He wasn't strong, but he hated seeing his friends get hurt.

Tea however could hold her own as she glare up at the guy. "What do you mean 'stomping grounds'? We won this space in the lottery!" She declared and no one was going to take it away from them.

Those words only caused the guy and all the others behind him to laugh, before the leader held up a fist and shouted, "Listen up boys! This is where we traditionally make okonomiyaki each semester! Get rid of these rotten carnival games! Beat it!"

"Who the hell are you? You're the ones who're gonna beat it!" Joey shouted from his place in the barrel. He could see everything that was going down and he didn't like it. "There's always a moron who starts a fight at these things and I wouldn't miss it for the world." He said as he started to get out of the barrel, but when he was almost out he realized something wasn't right.

"That's some talk from where you're standing!" The large male laughed as he watched Joey struggling to get his right leg out of the barrel. Before Joey had a chance to get out and even stand up to fight, the other punched him in the face sending Joey flying out of the barrel and into the wall of their booth.

"Joey!" Yugi cried hurrying over to his friend to make sure he was alright.

The guy turned to his group and shouted, "Go grill brigade! Break down the carnival games booth!"

The group of men wasted no time as they ran at the wall with their grill hitting it before backing up to go at it again. Everyone who had been in the booth hurried out of the way so they wouldn't get hit. They could only watch as the guys went at it again nearing knocking the wall out.

"Stop it!" Tea shouted, there wasn't much they could do physical against them, she could only shout at them to quit it. Joey was still dizzy from the hit he took and neither Yugi nor Duke stood a chance against the much larger men.

The leader could only laugh as his men took the booth down and Yugi couldn't take it anymore. Just as the men were going to ram it again, Yugi ran in front of them. "Stop! Don't! We worked hard to build this!" He shouted, but his message was not heard.

His friends could only watch in horror as the men hit Yugi with the grill sending the small teen flying. Once he was out of the way they finished with the booth and established the spot as theirs. Tea and Duke hurried over to Yugi who was groaning in pain but thankfully he was still awake.

Tea had tears in her eyes as she checked Yugi over. "Yugi, are you okay?"

"We need to take him to the infirmary," Duke told her and she agreed.

In the end the dance team could only watch as their spot was taken over by a huge grill.

* * *

To say Yami was pissed was an understatement, he was livid and beyond being able to form words at how angry he was that his innocent Aibou was injured and he wasn't there to prevent it. It made no sense for some punks to come mess up the carnival games when there were plenty of other spots to use. The teen ended what he was doing with his brothers and headed straight for the campus after he got the call from Tea. The nurses at the clinic on campus had wanted to call Yugi's family, but Yugi had been able to talk them out of it as he didn't want to worry them. Instead Tea called Yami since he would be the next person besides their friends who could look out for him after his injuries and half the time Yugi normally could get away with staying the night at Yami's apartment.

When Yami arrived, he found Duke and Joey in the waiting room with Joey holding an ice pack to his face. The two explained everything that went down that wasn't said on the phone and then Yami got a nurse to show him back to the room Yugi was staying in. Thankfully his injuries weren't bad enough for Yugi to have to go to the hospital.

The teen found Yugi lying down on the bed in the room with Tea sitting in the only chair beside the bed. She offered a smile and shook Yugi awake who blinked his eyes opened. The smaller looked at Yami a little confused at first, before he fully realized who was in the room and carefully sat up.

Yugi winced as he sat up and Yami was immediately at his side. He placed his hands on his shoulder and made him lay back down. "Don't move if you don't have to…" Yami told him then looked to Tea. "The nurse didn't tell me, but what are his injuries?"

"It's nothing too serious. We got the x-rays back a few minutes ago and nothing is broken. The doctor here believes it's simply some bruise ribs and gave him a pain killer. He will be in pain for a while and once the pain killers wear off and if he is still hurting, the doctor said he could take some over the counter pain killers. However if the pain gets worst over night, he should make an appointment with his normal doctor or go to the hospital," Tea explained to him as she stood up.

Yami sighed in relief and reached out to hold Yugi's hand in his. "I know you were only trying to help, but I don't want to see you hurt."

"I couldn't sit by and do nothing," Yugi said and it was easy to tell he was still a little out of it.

"You should get Yugi to your apartment for some rest." Tea said to Yami as she turned to walk away.

Yugi didn't like that one bit as he said, "But what about the carnival games…?"

Tea turned back to them with a sad smile, "We'll try again next semester…"

"That's no good!" Yugi cried out not at all happy with how things were turning out, "We have to get that space back."

Tea simply turned away from them and Yami could see her wiping a tear away. All of them had worked so hard on that project and it was all for nothing. A warm feeling washed over him as the anger returned, before Yami stood up startling Yugi.

"Keep an eye on Yugi for me Tea. I'll figure this mess out…" He left the two without another word an evil plan already in mind for the ones responsible.

* * *

The sun was just getting ready to set and most of the clubs, groups, and athletics had finished up their booths and were going home for the night. Tomorrow was the big day so they needed plenty of rest. Yami stood in front of where the carnival games booth should have been but the only thing left in their spot was the grill. The games had been thrown to the side, only slightly damaged so Yami knew they could reclaim their spot and still make the booth a success. After a little hacking into the computer system at school, Yami was able to find the main guy responsible and called him out. He was not going to get away so easy with his crimes.

After a while a rather large guy approached him with a smirk on his face, "So you're the loser who called me out here. You've got some guts."

Yami stared him down not the least bit afraid of him, "You have trespassed on the souls of each of my friends and partner. For that you must play a game with me."

"What are you babbling about? Shouldn't you play games with your mommy?" The guy laughed.

"If you have any guts…" Yami crossed his arms and stared the guy down. "You'll play this game with me, this shadow game!"

"A game…?" The guy questioned clearly confused, "It's beneath me to play games with a kid like you, but I've never backed down from a challenge… What kind of game are you talking about?"

Yami grinned, "We'll play a game with this. The grill that you bought here," He informed the brute pointing out the grill in between them that the guy just then seemed to notice. "I've already heated it up. The surface is hotter than a hundred degree Celsius." Next Yami held up a round block of ice with a test tube frozen in the middle, "This block of ice has a test tube in the middle that is filled with explosives. If it touches the grill, one or both of us will be blown sky high. Then you can find out what okonomiyaki feels like…" He then held up two spatulas with the other hand, "The game is called 'Griddle Ice Hockey' and we'll use these as rackets."

As he tossed a spatula to the other guy Yami placed the ice on the grill and it quickly started to melt creating steam. "The loser gives up the right to this space at the school festival! Any problems with that, Goro?"

"I'll meet your challenge!" Goro shouted back at him.

With all the items in place, Yami finally said the magic words, "Game start!"

The ice had already drifted down to Goro so he took the first swing striking the ice hard. "Put a spatula in my hand and no one can match me!" He called out.

Yami put all his strength into his swing sending the ice right back to Goro. The ice was melting faster as it moved making it a ticking time bomb and Goro must have realized that as he continued to use all this strength and more to send the ice to Yami.

The next time Yami sent the ice back it took a lot more strength than he thought he had. _'His power and speed are amazing. That little piece of ice comes at me with the weight of a boulder_.' Yami thought to himself, but that wasn't going to stop him from winning the game.

"Look at that! It takes all you got just to send the puck back! My strength gives me the edge in this game." Goro taunted sending the ice back at Yami.

Yami clenched his teeth as he used all his strength to send the puck back and was forced back a few steps because of the recoil. '_How can I win…? I sent it back somehow, but each time I return it, the recoil sends me flying.'_ He was starting to worry that maybe this was a game he wouldn't be able to win.

"Let's give it even more power!" Goro laughed hitting the ice even harder this time around.

The speed was so great that Yami had to think fast on his feet or he would lose the game. '_I must use all my opponent's strength and speed against him. If this doesn't work, I'll lose_.' Yami thought as he closed his eyes and placed the spatula vertical with the end facing the ice. By some miracle the ice was sent back as Yami opened his eyes in time to see Goro getting ready to strike it.

"I'm so tough you can only push it back! But it's no use!" Goro swung as hard as he could and when the spatula hit the ice his jaw dropped opened. Right before his eyes the ice split in two and the test tube was set free.

Thankfully no one else was around as the test tube hit the grill and exploded. Goro was thrown back a few feet and laid on the ground unconscious with a lot of minor burns to his body. Yami was many things but a killer wasn't one of them. He put only small bits of explosives in there to surprise more than harm.

"As promised we'll take this space back!" Yami said with a smirk as he turned to what was left of the carnival games booth. He snapped his fingers and just like that grill was gone and the booth was restored to how the girls had done it before what had happened that afternoon. Proud of himself, Yami began to walk away heading back to his apartment. The dance team would be in for one hell of surprise the next day, but it was worth it.

* * *

The morning of the school festival the dance team did arrive to at least show their support of other clubs and were in for one hell of surprise when they realized that their booth had been restored. They didn't know how or who did it, but they weren't complaining as they got to work assigning post and preparing for the start of the festival.

After the festival had started and family and friends were having fun with the carnival games, Tea approached Yami "You did all of this didn't you?"

Yami shook his head, "Sorry it wasn't me."

Tea looked as if she didn't believe him before she smiled, "Oh alright play dumb all you want but I know it was you." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then hurried off.

A blush formed on Yami's face, he clearly wasn't expecting that. Honestly he wasn't playing dumb when he really had no clue who rebuilt the carnival games, but he was thankfully to whoever helped the dance team out. The only thing he remembered was being in the clinic with Yugi then he woke up in his apartment with Yugi beside him.

Speaking of Yugi, Yami's line of sight switched to where his little lover was sitting in a chair keeping kids in line as they waited to play Bluebeard Attack. Poor Joey got stuck with being the pirate but it sure was funny. Everyone having fun put a smile on Yami's face as he made his way over to Yugi.

Throughout the day, the carnival games booth was a big hit!

* * *

**Sakura: **I really had to think this one over since they are not in high school where each class had to make a booth. Once on my campus we had different clubs that created booths to gain students attention because they wanted people to join, so I worked around with that idea and came up with this. At the end with Tea, sure there was a small kiss on the cheek, but it was as friends! I'm trying to be more pro-Tea in this story than some of my others. Do not worry, Tea won't be trying to steal Yami, but next chapter someone will be trying to get her attention.

**Yumi: Review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **A lot of reviews talked about being glad that I was more pro Tea in this story. I'm glad to hear I made some readers happy. I had to think long and hard on this chapter to figure out what way I wanted to go. So I hope everyone enjoys it!

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**The Face of Truth**

A week had passed since the successful festival at Domino University. The dance team along with other clubs, groups, and athletics were able to raise enough money for whatever their teams needed or any trips they wanted to take. Along with that success, Yugi's injuries had healed up nicely and he was able to hide what had happened from his parents and grandfather. It's not that he didn't want to tell them, it's just he didn't want them to worry that college wasn't safe. The last thing Yugi and his friends wanted were for Yugi's mother to follow them around with her overprotective self.

Once things had settled down and Yami found a time for both he and Yugi to relax. He put together a romantic evening just the two of them with no family, friends, or horrible college work. Friday afternoon he pulled up to the Kame Game shop when he knew Yugi's shift at his grandfather's shop would be over and politely kidnapped Yugi. Yami was always a spur of the moment kind of guy so he had completely surprised his lover and did not even let Yugi change clothes.

When they were in the limo and the doors were locked, Yami informing the driver they could leave before turning his attention to Yugi. Yugi had his arms crossed and was looking at Yami with a face that said 'What the hell are you thinking?'

Yami chuckled and lean across to kiss his little one on the lips. "Don't give me that face. It's more fun when you are surprised."

"I'm more than happy to go on a date with you sweetie, but could you not have let me at least change clothes," Yugi pointed out as they both looked down at Yugi's white wash jeans along with a black tank top that was lightly covered in dirt and dust from Yugi pulling merchandise from the storage room.

Yami on the other had looked like a model off the front page of a magazine with his skin tight black leather pants with a matching black leather tank top with three buckles going across the front. He was tone and fit which made up for his lack of height. The taller teen grinned like a Cheshire cat as he moved even closer to Yugi, before the younger knew what was happening he was pinned to the back seat of the limo. "But you look so sexy that way…"

"Sexy? Seriously Yami, I probably even smell a little…" Yugi rolled his eyes not minding the fact that Yami was pretty much laying on top of him. Half the time if they were at Yami's apartment sitting on the couch watching a movie, Yami felt the need to lie on top of him. Yugi was like his own personal pillow. "Where are we going anyway?"

"That is a surprise Aibou, so just sit back and relax." Yami purred, before claiming Yugi's lips in another kiss so the other could not say a word. A make-out session began not long after that as the driver took them to their mystery location.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Yugi was able to break free from his leech of a boyfriend when the driver announced they had arrived. Yami did not wait on the driver to open the door as he let himself out than held out his hand for Yugi to take.

Yugi let Yami help him out of the limo and that was when he realized where they were at. The beautiful blue water in front of him stretched on for miles and the white sand looked inviting to sit upon. Yami retrieved a basket and blanket from the truck of the limo, before he sent his driver away for a few hours. He then led his beautiful Aibou down the path and onto the warm sand. They picked a place far enough away from the water so the blanket would not get wet.

It was odd for the place to be empty of all other people, but it was then Yugi realized this was only one of Domino's beaches. Domino city had two beaches one that was a huge attraction for surfers and swimmers and this location which was not far from the Domino pier. Due to the ships that came and went from the pier this beach was not a favorite for swimmers and was often left empty. It seems Yami thought it was the perfect place for a quiet romantic dinner on the beach.

While Yugi sat staring out at the water and ships as they passed, Yami set up their blanket and all the food he had bought along. Before long the two were enjoying a simple meal together in silence. Sometimes words were not needed and the mood was too calm and quiet to disturb with noise from their talking.

It wasn't until dessert was bought out that Yami felt like striking up a conversation. "Hey Yugi…?"

Yugi looked over at him pausing mid bite from his slice of chocolate cake. "Yeah…?" He answered before taking that waiting bite.

"Do you think Tea likes anyone?"

Yugi nearly spit out his cake at that statement. He quickly drank some of his soda to wash it down. The smaller teen didn't think Yami would cheat on him but it was kind of odd to ask such a question on a date with your boyfriend. "Why do you ask?" He questioned once he finished washing down the food.

"Yesterday I was talking with Duke and he seemed down for some reason. I kept bugging him why until he told me he saw Tea talking with this other dude. He looked so upset about it, but I honestly didn't know what to say to him. I'm not as close as you are with her so I didn't know if you knew or not if she was seeing someone. I haven't been able to get a defeated looking Duke out of my mind." Yami looked over at his lover, "I want all our friends to be happy like we are. I know Duke seriously likes Tea but is too afraid to talk to her about it."

Yugi smiled a little relieved that Yami was only worried about his friend. "Odd question to ask when on a date with your boyfriend, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure if Tea does like anyone. I haven't heard from her besides seeing her at class. Her dance team and job takes up most of her time."

"Sorry," Yami quickly apologized when he realized what he had done, "We haven't had a quiet moment for me to ask you. I should stop worrying about it and focus on our date," He finished with a slight blush.

"It's alright," Yugi told him as he lean over to kiss Yami's cheek. "I can tell this is weighing heavily on your mind and if it makes you feel better, maybe we should both sit down and talk with Duke. If we knew why he was too afraid to talk to Tea, then we could help him build up the courage."

"You think so?"

"I think he just needs a little push from his friends," Yugi said before a little smirk appeared on his face. He placed his cake to the side and crawled over to Yami, sitting on his lap and pinning him to the ground. "However we can worry about that another day. Your Aibou wants some attention."

Yami couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips. His little one could be so innocent one second and change to a sexy little imp the next. Both ways Yami loved it and he showed it by yanking Yugi down so their lips could meet once again.

* * *

The next day found Yugi lounging around Yami's apartment in one of Yami's t-shirts and a pair of shorts. It was nearly noon on a Saturday so both Joey and Tristan were out of the house goofing off somewhere probably. Once both Yugi and Yami had some late breakfast in them, Yami changed into some clothes and raced off to pick up Duke. Yami explained to Yugi that if Duke knew what he was coming over to Yami's apartment for then he would find a way to skip out. This way once they got him here Duke would have no way home, except to walk since there wasn't a bus in this area that went over to Duke's neighborhood. With it being a pretty long walk Yami knew Duke would have to hear them out in order to get a ride home.

Yugi lazily flipped through channels on the TV, until he heard the key in the door. A second later and both Yami and Duke were walking in with Yami closing and locking the door behind them. Duke seemed surprised that Yugi was there as he turned to Yami. "I think you have a visitor…"

Yami waved it off, "Yugi stayed the night, and I just forgot to mention it to you that it would be the three of us hanging out."

Duke shrugged before walking over and placing himself next to Yugi, "Alright so what are we going to do?"

The taller tri-color hair teen went to the TV and turned it off, before turning to face the two a very serious look on his face. "Duke this is an intervention."

Yugi slapped his forehead while also trying not to laugh at his partner. Sometimes Yami could be the most mature guy you would ever meet and then other times he was just as silly as Joey.

Duke looked completely confused as he asked Yugi, "What is he talking about?"

"I honestly have no idea, he must have hit his head in the shower," Yugi glared at his lover, "Yami stop fooling around and tell Duke the real reason he is here."

Yami slowly moved back over to the door making sure to block Duke's only exit. "The truth is Duke both Yugi and I think it's time you tell Tea you like her."

There was a second where nothing was said until Duke stood up, "Alright I'm out of here."

Yugi reached out and pulled Duke back down by the back of his shirt, "At least hear Yami out. He is really concerned about you."

"I don't want to talk about it okay?" Duke stated crossing his arms and looking away from the two. "Besides Tea can have any other man why would she pick me?"

"Dude don't take this the wrong way since I in no way see you as my type…" Yami shut up as Yugi glared at him and tried a different approach. "Listen you don't know what kind of guy she likes. In my opinion after hanging out with her for so long I think she would agree to going out with you. You have a great personality minus acting like a player sometimes, you are trying to launch your own game which means you follow your dreams, and at least you both have great fashion sense."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "What Yami is trying to say and failing at it is, you don't know unless you try. If she turns you down it just wasn't meant to be, but also she could turn you down because she is not ready to start dating yet. I have known Tea since we were toddlers, but I still don't know what kind of man she looks for in a boyfriend. If anything she is probably looking for someone who can dance just as well as she can."

"Which you can," Yami pointed out but shut back up when Yugi gave him a look again. Seriously he was the one trying to help his friend and Yugi kept scolding him like a child.

"Duke, Yami and I both know what it is like to have a crush on someone but be too afraid to express it. It probably would have taken us forever to get together until Yami let it slip he liked me. I'm not the best at relationship advice, but maybe you should first try and get her something to get her attention."

Duke turned to look at Yugi, "Like what?"

Yugi was pleased that Duke was showing some interest now. He stood up moving passed the two, "Let me get dressed and we'll head over to my grandfather's game shop. He might have something there or my mother might be able to point us in the right direction."

Once Yugi was out of the room Yami and Duke looked at each other not sure why going to the Kame Game shop would help them find a present for Tea. However they decided to give it a shot since Yugi appeared to know what he was doing.

* * *

"Well, I do have something perfect for you…" Solomon Mutou informed the three as the elderly man turned and grabbed a box off one of the shelves behind him.

"Really Grandpa..?" Yugi asked, not believing their luck. When they first entered the shop and explained things to Grandpa he immediately seemed to have something in mind. Yugi knew Tea enjoyed hanging out at his family's game shop so he thought maybe something they sold would be prefect for his friend and his grandfather always had the weirdest stuff around the shop, even though everything had to do with games. Tea wasn't a gamer, but whatever his grandfather had to show them was worth a look at.

"I haven't told Yugi the story, but this was how I got his grandmother," The older male told them as he turned and placed the box on the counter wiping dust away from the box. He opened the lid and showed them a blank puzzle with a silver frame that had a rose and heart design craved in it. "You write down your feelings, then break it up and sent it to her. As she puts it together, piece by piece your words appear. Isn't it romantic?"

Yami had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. He did not want to be disrespectful to Yugi's grandfather. Honesty Yugi's family was all about gaming including ways to ask your love interest out. It made Yami wonder if he had waited any longer if Yugi would have tried to ask him out the same way.

"I had thought about giving Yugi one back in high school when I learned about his crush on Yami, but then Yami ended up asking him out," Solomon told them out of the blue causing Yami to finally let lose the laugh he was holding back and Yugi blushed a bright red.

"Grandpa!"

Solomon shrugged, "I had only thought about it and besides Yami probably would have gotten a kick out of it."

"He is going to get a kick to the leg if he doesn't shut up," Yugi pouted as he crossed his arms. Honestly he was a gamer, but he wouldn't have given Yami a puzzle to ask him out, then he thought back to the millennium puzzle and smacked his forehead. In truth a puzzle did bring them together.

Yami had managed to calm himself down as he put an arm around Yugi. "It would have been so cute…" He continued to chuckle before looking over at Duke, "Not sure Tea will go for…"

"It's perfect!" Duke exclaimed causing both boys to look at him not believing he liked the idea. He paid for the item before turning to his two friends. "So what do you think I should write?"

Yugi and Yami both bowed their heads not sure what to think of their friend at the moment.

* * *

Later that afternoon both Yugi and Yami could be found lounging around upstairs in Yugi's room. They were at a complete lost at what to write and had been at it for hours. Duke had trusted them with the puzzle and the message that would go on it since he was hopeless at it and did not know Tea that well. He liked her and if they began to date he would get to know her a lot better. That was if his feelings were returned.

"I can't believe we got stuck writing Duke's love jigsaw puzzle, it would probably be easier to set them up on a blind date," Yami commented as he stared at the ceiling while lying on Yugi's bed. It wouldn't be long before Mrs. Mutou would be calling them down for dinner.

Yugi tapped the marker against his desk as he stared up at the skylight window. The sun would be setting soon and he didn't want to spend all night writing a love message. It was really hard to write something romantic to one of his best friends. "If I had a little help it wouldn't be taking this long."

"I still think you should just write 'will you go out with me?' and be done with it." Yami said rolling over onto his side to look at Yugi.

Yugi turned his head to stare at Yami, "Do you even have a romantic bone in your body?"

Yami smirked, "Come over here and you'll find out."

"If you're not going to be of any help you could go help my mother in the kitchen."

"Uh… I think not," Yami stood up and moved behind Yugi wrapped his arms around Yugi and resting his head on top of Yugi's. "What do you think it should say?"

"How about, 'Tea I have always admired you from afar, but I would like to know you more. Will you go out with me?' What do you think?" Yugi asked as he turned his head to look up at Yami.

Yami raised an eyebrow, "That is basely the same thing I just said with a lot more words."

"Well you had a decent idea, but it needed to be a little more romance added to it. Tea isn't into sappy romance stuff, however I think this will work. Now should we put Duke's name at the bottom or leave him to confess it to her. He didn't tell us if he wanted it signed." Yugi mentioned next since he knew Duke wanted Tea to know his feelings, but not sure if he wanted her to know it was from him just yet.

"Go ahead and put his name. The sooner Tea knows who likes her, the better it will be for the both of them." Yami said as he watched Yugi write the message in his neat little handwriting before putting down Duke's name.

Once he was done, Yami broke the puzzle apart and put both the frame and pieces in their box. The two wrapped it up with a neat bow on top. They would just have to figure out how Duke was going to give the gift to her. Something clever would have to be planned for they both knew Duke would not give it to her in person. They just hoped Tea didn't break Duke's heart too badly if she didn't like him.

* * *

When Monday rolled around Yami, Yugi, and Duke still had no idea how Duke was going to give Tea her present. It wasn't until they had breakfast with Joey that morning before classes that he heard what they were trying to do and helped them think of a plan. The first plan was for Duke to just give it to her, which he refused. The second plan was to mail it to her which Duke feared it would get lost in the mail and by time she did get it she could be dating someone else and that would be weird. The last idea that Joey came up with was to sneak it into her dance locker in the gym that way she would get it before or after practice that day.

The last idea wasn't a bad one and it just so happened, that Tea had trusted Yugi with her locker combination in case she ever forgot it. So Duke and Joey went straight to the gym after eating breakfast and waited until the girls were done with their morning practice. When the gym was clear they sneaked their way into the girls' locker room. They were able to successfully put the gift in Tea's locker before getting out of their quick and making it to class with only being a few minutes late. Now they just had to wait until Tea had practice again for her to get the gift.

* * *

The waiting really got to Duke as they went through their classes. He kept sneaking glances at Tea probably wondering in his head what she would think of her gift. Yami really hoped this worked out for his friend so he would be able to have the girl of his dreams or move on if Tea wasn't interested. It would be nice if the two started to date, because it would mean Yugi and Yami wouldn't be the only couple around. He could tell some of their friends were jealous that they had each other, so Yami had to keep the public display of affection on the down low. In all honesty Yami had a feeling that even though Duke appeared like a player, Tea knew the real him and would give the guy a chance.

When the last class was done for the day, Tea skipped out on eating lunch with them saying practice was happening early today because her first competition was coming up next week. The team wanted to be at their best and was working even harder.

What Tea didn't know was that Duke, Yami, Yugi, and Joey all skipped out on eating lunch to quietly follow her. They didn't want to miss her finding the present and opening it. So while she met up with her team in the gym, the four boys waited outside the doors peeking in through the windows. The coach was already there dressed like she was some kind of super model and not a dance coach. She clearly had on way too much make up and her smile was creepy too.

The team appeared to all be there, but they weren't going into the lockers rooms yet. Instead they all sat on the bleachers, so Joey cracked open the door so they could hear what was going on.

"Alright girls! I'd like your attention before we get started with this afternoons practice I think it's time for another one of our weekly surprise inspections!" Their coach cheered with that same sickly sweet smile on her face. "Please bring your bags to the locker room and we will begin."

A lot of the girls groaned as they grabbed their bags and headed to the locker room. They watched as they all filed in and Tea did not looked worried at all. However she didn't have to, but four boys were worried in her place.

"I hear from Tea all the time that Ms. Chono is strict. She has weekly inspections to make sure her dancers aren't using drugs or breaking any of her rules," Yugi informed them when Duke, Yami, and Joey looked lost by the inspections.

"Wait, didn't Tea tell us once before that she doesn't want her dancers to have any relationships or jobs," Yami said as they all came to the same realization.

Duke slapped his own forehead at his stupidity. "We put the gift in her locker and now she could seriously get in trouble for this. I'm so stupid."

"It's not your fault we didn't know," Yugi said as he placed a comforting hand on Duke's shoulder. "This could still work out. We just have to see how it plays out."

As if on cue the girls walked back out of the room and the last two to leave were Ms. Chono and Tea. Tea was forced to stand beside Ms. Chono as the other girls sat down. The four boys listened in as Ms. Chono held up the box. "If none of you girls put this in Ms. Gardener's locker and Ms. Gardner has no idea how it ended up in her locker, I'm going to assume that someone snuck in here who was not supposed to be in here." She ripped open the box in no time letting the wrapping fall to the floor. The only thing left in her hand was the frame to the puzzle and the pieces. The witch then walked over to the podium that was a foot away from her and placed the puzzle on top of it.

"Well it appears we have a jigsaw puzzle and if I put the pieces together a message will appear" Ms. Chono slowly started to put the puzzle together while never losing her smile. She appeared to be having too much fun, "What's this…? 'Tea, I have always admired you from afar but I would like to know you more.' What a silly little message." She said as part of the message came together given it was a really simple puzzle.

Yugi and Yami blushed as Duke looked at them. "That is what you came up with," Duke hissed at them quietly so they wouldn't be heard, but the two simply shrugged their shoulders.

"Now I wonder who gave this to you." Mrs. Chono wondered out loud catching the boys' attention again. "It's against my rules for my young dancers to be romantically involved with anyone. This sounds like a date waiting to happen. Plus we have the problem of a boy being in the girls' locker room. There is no room on this campus for a peeping tom."

Yugi nearly freaked out at those words. There was no way he could let Duke get in trouble when it was both he and Yami that pushed him to finally confess to Tea. Just as he was about to walk in there and stop this, both he along with Joey and Duke watched in surprised as Yami barge right into the room.

"I did it!" Yami confessed with a blush on his face as he looked anywhere but at Tea. This was so embarrassing but he wasn't about to let Duke take the fall. There was no telling what kind of trouble Duke would get into for being in the girls' locker room. His friends had dreams that could be fulfilled with a college education and Yami could take the risk of getting kicked out.

"No, I was the one who wrote the message!" Yugi barged in after him. There was no way Yami was going to be the only one to take the fall. He caught a glance of Tea looking at them in shock, but after that he mostly kept his eyes on the coach.

It was only about a couple seconds of silence before another voice spoke up, "Thanks guys, but that's enough," Duke said as he walked up to Yami's other side, "It's my message in that puzzle and I was the one who put it in her locker."

"W-Why are there three of you?" Ms. Chono asked with a giggle. "Only one of you is guilty so someone is lying."

Yami leveled her with a glare for putting them through this, "We aren't lying."

Another giggle escaped the coach, "Of course I can just finish the puzzle and find out the name of the guilty party. When I find out who it is, he will be expelled." She was clearly enjoying this a little too much and there was something wrong with that woman.

There were only three pieces of the puzzle left which would reveal Duke's name across the bottom and when Yami looked toward his friend he could see Duke had close his eyes in defeat. Yami could feel the anger course through him because of what she was putting his best friend through.

Unknowing to everyone the puzzle around Yugi's neck gave off a small glow, before Yami leveled the coach with one of his most serious faces. '_Ms. Chono, how dare you wound Duke and Tea's souls… Everyone has secrets in their hearts! Secrets they can only show to a special person. Duke's feelings are in that puzzle and now by the power of the millennium puzzle I change that jigsaw puzzle into a shadow game!'_ Yami thought to himself.

As he watched the coach put the last puzzle piece into place, Yami thought '_Now as much as you hurt others you will hurt yourself!' _

"I have the name!" Ms. Chono cheered loudly. "The person being expelled is…" Her words died in her throat because as if my magic her make up fell off her face in puzzle pieces revealing the coach's true ugly face underneath.

The girls on the bleachers all couldn't help but start laughing not believing how ugly their coach truly looked. As she sneered at that Yami thought, '_Ms. Chono I've removed the makeup of your soul! That is your true face! No matter how much make up you pile on, you can't cover your ugly nature.'_

"AAAAGGGHHH! This never happened! You reveal my secret and I'll get you!" Ms. Chono shouted before she left the room quickly. The girls on the bleachers didn't seem to mind as they started to head to the locker room to get their bags. If the coach wasn't there, there really was no point in having practice.

Joey walked into the room with a grossed out look on his face, "Did you see her face?"

Yami blinked his eyes at the question as he looked and noticed Ms. Chono was no longer there. Something must have happened to make her run out.

"No wonder she wears so much make-up," Yugi pointed out before he noticed Tea had walked over to the puzzle. He smiled and moved behind Duke to push him that way. "This is your chance Duke."

Duke seemed frozen on the spot until Tea looked up at them and smiled. She waved him over and he seemed to get the feeling back in his legs as he slowly walked over.

The other three stayed where they were and listened as the two talked. They were completely surprised when Tea had a blush on her face as she kissed him on the cheek. A second later she was walking to the locker room and Duke was returning to them.

"So what happened?" Joey pressed with a grin.

"We are going out for dinner tonight. She agreed to go out with me." Duke told them with a smile.

Yami patted his friend on the back, "See that wasn't so hard and before long she might even agree to be your girlfriend."

It had been a stressful but happy moment for Duke and Tea. Yami couldn't have been happier for them and hoped things worked out between the two.

* * *

**Sakura: **Sure Ms. Chono was a high school teacher in the book, but I changed that to a dance teacher. So they have never met her before until that day. Let's just say that even though the coach doesn't want them to date, Tea isn't going to let that stop her.

**Yumi: Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **Glad to see my readers enjoy that last chapter! I notice I don't get many reviews for each chapter, but thanks to those who do review! As long as someone is reading this story I will continue with it.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**The Poison Man**

Crimson eyes stared at a cell phone not believing the call the owner had just received. Yami had been up since eight that morning on a Saturday no less when he didn't have to be, getting ready for a very important date with a certain amethyst eye lover. However those plans were crushed by a simple phone call.

"Who is on your hit list now?"

Yami turned to see Tristan had walked into the room still in sleep pants heading toward the kitchen for some coffee that Yami had brewed but ten minutes ago. Once the much taller teen made himself a cup and took a sip did he turn around to look at Yami.

"You look like you're about to murder your phone…" Tristan elaborated taking another sip.

Yami sighed and put his phone beside him. He was still curled up on the couch in his own pajamas not seeing a reason to get dressed now. "Yugi's mother called to tell me that Yugi won't be able to make our date today. Yesterday he hadn't been feeling good, but Yugi assured me it was probably just from stress. However turns out Yugi may have a stomach virus, given his fever and stomach pains he developed late last night. Mrs. Mutou let me know that Yugi was really sorry and asked that I don't visit him so I don't catch the bug." He explained to Tristan hating that his partner was sick. In a heartbeat Yami would be there to help and take care of him, but Yugi and Mrs. Mutou would probably just send him away. Plus Yugi always seemed to get into foul moods when sick and Yami already knew his Aibou was not so sweet and innocent when mad.

Tristan moved over to sit down on the couch beside Yami and turn on the TV, "Well I can't be much help with the whole Yugi being sick, but you could always come hang with me and Joey today. Joey has an errand he needs to do and I got roped into tagging along." He said inviting his friend to come along figuring Yami wouldn't want to be stuck in the apartment all alone.

"The only errand I know Joey would do is to grocery shop," Yami pointed out recalling the few times Joey would do the shopping because first off he owned a vehicle that could hold groceries and second he hated what Yami and Tristan picked out. Joey loved food, but he was extra picky. "The fridge is already full…."

Tristan shrugged, "Beats me, but I ain't got nothing better to do."

Yami knew Tristan had a point there and Yami's curiosity was getting the better of him. So since the blond never got up before noon on a Saturday, Yami set about getting ready for the day so he could tag along. If anything he would probably have an interesting and funny story to tell Yugi later on when he got better.

* * *

As predicted Joey did not arise from the dead sleep he was in until a little after noon. Then it took another two hours for him to shower, get dressed, and eat lunch. By the time the blond was done, both Tristan and Yami were more than ready to get out of the apartment. The group piled into Joey's truck and rode for an hour and a half toward downtown Domino, where Joey found a decent place to park and then they still had to walk a couple blocks to the place Joey was looking for.

"Ummm…." The blond kept looking at a piece of paper in his hands and then at a map in his other hand. "The map says it's around here…"

"Joey, where are you taking us?" Tristan piped up stressing out the word where. They had finally turned down an alley which was not too shady looking minus the trash cans.

"Don't worry 'bout it!" Joey told him keeping an eye out for the place, "You got something better to do?"

Yami kept his hands in his pocket and his eyes out for anyone who might want to jump them. Domino was fairly safe, but there were still those thugs that liked to hang around in back alleys waiting on victims. "Is this place safe…?"

Joey nodded turning them onto a better lit street at the end of the alley, "This joint is famous with the fans. They say the owner's crazy for his stuff." He led them to the end of the street where he stopped in front of a shop. "Here we are."

Yami and Tristan both raised eyebrows at the name '_Junky Scorpion'_ hanging above the small shop. The two didn't even have a chance to stop Joey as he went to the open the door while saying, "They've gotta have what I'm looking for." Thus giving the two no choice but to follow.

Inside Yami come to realize that the place wasn't that bad and mostly sold high end clothes and shoes that were no longer in store. Some of the items were really dated and he wondered what in the world Joey was looking for in a place like that.

"You're looking for shoes?" Tristan questioned as Joey picked up the item he was looking for and was pretty much drooling over them.

Joey stopped and glared at Tristan, "Not just any shoes these are Air Muscles! They don't make these shoes anymore and I've pretty much walked out of mine."

Yami looked down and finally noticed that the shoes on Joey's feet were in face Air Muscles, but did look like they had seen better days. It surprised him how little he noticed that Joey never wore any other shoes. If he recalled right the blond had those shoes since back in high school or so Yugi had told him one time back when they first started going out.

"Hey don't touch those!" A voice called from the back causing all three to turn and see the owner come from the back and around the corner to stand in front of Joey. He was a weird looking guy with baggy clothes and sunglasses on even in the day time.

"Those are incredibly rare you can't find them anywhere and they aren't for sale." The owner informed Joey with a sneer.

Joey however was not going to leave without those shoes, "You're the owner right? You gotta sell these to me. I came a long way to find this shop." He said trying to reason with the guy.

"There are more guys who want those sneakers than stars in the sky…" The owner said going off on his own little ramble. "But I won't sell them to just anyone. You got to show you have the stuff to wear these sneakers. Some guys will pay anything to get what they want. Some will even kill…" He pointed down to the shoes he was wearing, "In America, someone got murdered over the sneakers I'm wearing…"

"Haha, thanks for your opinion," Joey replied back sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, before becoming serious, "You gonna sell them or not?"

"Let's see…" The owner looked Joey up and down before saying, "How about this, let's play a little game. See if you have the right stuff."

"A game…?"

The owner nodded before holding up a thin rope that served as a necklace with what looked like a fake scorpion attached by the tail. "This scorpion is more than a mascot. It's a real one with real poison." He took one of the shoes from Joey and looked to have dropped the scorpion inside. "I'll put it in the sneaker…" He then handed the shoe back to Joey. "Now… You got the guts to put your foot in there?"

Joey had a look of shock on his face, "W-What?"

Yami couldn't even believe this was happening, "Joey you can't play this game it's too dangerous." He said trying to convince his friend not to go through with it. Hell if he needed a new pair of shoes like the one he had on, Yami figured he could find someone with a better deal than that.

"Dude, we can find you another pair," Tristan added on what Yami was thinking.

However their words were not reaching Joey it seemed as he stared long and hard at the shoe that was now on the floor in front of him. At first it seemed like he might pull away, before he pulled his foot out of the old pair he had on and while yelling, "I'll show you who's got guts!" The knuckle head rammed his foot into the new shoe not caring about being hurt.

There was a dead silence as Yami and Tristan waited to see if Joey started to yell in pain from the sting. However after a minute the only thing that happened was the store owner clapping.

"You pass…" He told Joey with a smirk "Didn't really put a scorpion in. Just testing you, plus I wouldn't ruin the sneaker like that."

Joey was ecstatic to hear the news and couldn't believe his luck. While his two friends behind him simply sighed not believing how dumb their friend truly was.

"Okay they're yours," The owner said catching their attention again, "And even though they sell for 100,000 yen, I'll let you have those premium rare shoes for half price."

Joey happily paid for the shoes and quickly switched his old pair out in favor of wearing his new shoes. Just before the three could leave the store the owner called out to them one more time.

"Just let me warn you. It's dangerous to wear those in town there days. Some gang calling themselves muscle hunters is going around stealing rare shoes."

The three friends looked at each other thinking, '_Muscle Hunters?'_

"Be careful not to get stripped to your bare feet!" He said with a chuckle, before going back to the back of the store.

* * *

"I know what you're gonna say… That shop owner is half crazy!" Joey said to his friends before a laugh escaped passed his lips and he started to skip down the street they were on. "But the shoes are mine!"

Tristan and Yami hung their heads in shame as people on the street started to stare.

"No one will forget the guy who risked his life for a pair of shoes," Tristan said.

Yami agreed with him, but said aloud, "We're happy for you Joey." He was trying to be supportive but he almost wished he had stayed at home. This had turned into a strange errand, but at least the blond was happy.

While Joey continued to skip down the street in his new shoes bragging about them and boasting about finally being able to chuck the other pair, Tristan lean down to say low enough so only Yami could hear. "His not a little kid, it's embarrassing to walk with him…"

"Even little kids don't skip like that…" Yami pointed out with a quiet chuckle.

After about another minute when Joey realized his friends were making fun of him, did he stop skipping and decided to walk beside his friends like a normal person. "We should get some burgers! I'm starving after all that…"

As the three chatted it up walking down the street toward Burger World they never noticed the shady looking guys following behind them. The gang of thugs took the chance to run right up to the three friends without being stopped and one of them threw a car tire around Joey keeping him from moving.

"What the hell?!" Joey shouted out in surprise before three guys started to well on him with fists and kicks to every part of his body.

Before Yami and Tristan could jump in to help their friend out a couple guys came up behind them giving them a few good punches to stun them. Yami had to curl up on the ground and protect his head from the kicks as his head started to spin from the blow to the head.

"Yami! Tristan!" Joey called out to his friends before a guy took a lucky shot and kicked Joey in the face taking him down for the count. He growled at the guy standing above him who put his foot on the tire to make sure Joey stayed down.

"Y'know these sneakers… They're just too good for you…" The guy said as he took the shoes off of Joey with no problem.

"You lousy…" Joey never got to finish his sentence as more punches came even though the thugs had the shoes.

* * *

Five long minutes later the thugs seemed to have had their fun and walked off with the shoes. They even took the tire back leaving Joey free to move, but even that hurt. By the time the three were able to sit up and figure out what happened the guys were long gone.

Joey turned to their shorter friend who was nursing the side of his face where a good looking bruise had started to appear. Yugi was so not going to be happy about that. "Hey, you alright Yami?"

"I think I'll live," Yami said as he looked at the others, they looked worst off then him but of course they could put up more of a fight then he could.

"Crap, didn't have the shoes on for two blocks." Joey cursed his luck.

Tristan looked off to where the guys had gone, "It was them… The hunters…"

Joey agreed and also noticed the street seemed to be void of people so of course no one saw anything, like they would help anyway. He let out a sigh before turning back to Yami, "Hey sorry you got roped into this…"

"I told you I'm alright." Yami informed his friends. He wasn't that fragile.

"Can you get back to the apartment?"

Yami raised an eyebrow at that. "What about you and Tristan?"

"We want…" Joey and Tristan stood up dusting off the dirt and both looked at each other with the same look in their eyes. "Revenge!"

"I'm not going home until I have those sneakers on my feet again," Joey announced.

Tristan smirked and held up a fist, "I owe those guys a beating."

Yami rolled his eyes but stood up with them dusting the dirt off, "I'll go too… Someone has to make sure you two don't get in too much trouble. "

Joey nodded, "Just make sure to leave the fighting to us."

"I'll it all to you guys," Yami told them as he ran after them. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to find the guys who did this.

* * *

Surprisingly it wasn't hard at all to find the guys and Yami never would figure out how Joey and Tristan knew the thugs would be at the arcade a couple blocks away. He simply stood back as Joey and Tristan approached the small group as they fought over who was cheating in the game or not.

"We don't attack from behind like cowards." Joey announced with a smirk on his face causing them to look his way, "We come from the front!"

Before one of the guys could do anything, Joey gave one of them a bloody nose with a fist to the face. He then grabbed the guy's shirt before he could fall down.

"Yeep….st-…st-…" The guy tried to say with the broken nose he had now. "St-… stop… you broge my node…"

"Because of you…" Joey then gave the guy a swift kick in the face with his sock covered foot, "I have holes in my socks!"

Tristan beside him was giving two other guys a taste of their own medicine. "Take this! And this!"

Yami kept at a safe distance not wanting to be involved, but had to admit that Joey and Tristan still had some mean fighting skills after all their years in high school.

"You shouldn't have picked a fight with us!" Joey shouted as he and Tristan knocked down the last of them. He then reached down to grab the guy he first knocked down who he had seen last with his shoes. "Now I'll have my sneakers back…"

"W-we don't have them…" The guy admitted, "We were just hired… like always…"

"Yeah?" Joey questioned waiting to hear more.

"3000 yen for each person. That doesn't even last an hour at the arcade." The guy said and then confessed by saying, "It's him… the shop owner…"

'_How could he….' _Yami thought as the news of it caused Yami's blood to boil. _'He knew how much Joey wanted those sneakers… Having us beaten up…swindling people!' _The overcoming anger took over and before Joey and Tristan saw anything Yami was gone from the arcade.

* * *

The streets toward the shop were etched into his brain as he turned down the familiar road to the shop. He noticed from a distance that the lights were still on. It was only when he was close enough that he noticed the sign had been changed from open to closed. Yami moved close enough to look in and saw the owner smiling down at the shoes.

"Heh heh heh I just love those fanatics." The owner chuckled loud enough for Yami to hear outside. "When they hear that it's rare they'll pay through the nose. It's all good business for me. All for a pair of sneakers…."

Yami tested the door and realized the owner forgot to lock it and walked right in, "I see, those sneakers are just a way to make money…"

"W…What the-!" The owner shouted as he turned to look at Yami, "Look at the sign! We're closed!"

"I'll take my friend's sneakers back now!" Yami told him with a scowl and his hands in his pockets, "I know that you paid the hunters to steal them back!"

A frown developed on the owner's face, before an idea stuck him and he put on a fake smile. "What? Your friend's sneakers?" He looked beside him to the pair he was holding and faked a look of shock, "Huh…? What are these! How did these get here?"

The owner turned around briefly to do something Yami could not see before he turned back around. "That's strange, but sorry 'bout that. Here take them, they're yours." He handed one of the shoes back to Yami.

Yami went to reach for the shoes with a closed fist and to the surprise of the owner dropped some coins into the shoe.

"What?!" The owner shouted in shock, "Why did you put coins in the sneaker?"

Yami simply smirked at him, "It's a game. Just like your test of courage. Only this time there is a scorpion in that sneaker." The owner still looked at Yami in disbelief so he continued, "The rules are simple. There are ten coins in this sneaker. We'll take turns pulling out coins and hoping your scorpion doesn't sting us. The person who takes the most coins wins."

As predicted the owner took the bait, "I'll take your challenge, but on one condition. If I win you owe me 100,000 yen for each coin. I'm a business man after all."

"Okay," Yami agreed to the terms pretty sure he was going to win this game, "100,000 yen for each coin. On the other hand if I win I simply want the sneakers back."

The shoe was placed on a table between the two and Yami reached his hand forward, "I'll go first…" He was careful not to startle the scorpion and pulled out successfully one of the coins. When he pulled his hand back he could see the scorpion had just reached the coins to try and sting, but Yami had been too quick for it. Once it saw the prey had gotten away it moved back. Yami let out the breath he was holding and with a sigh said, "One down…"

"Heh, that pet has no respect for its owner," The owner sneered pissed that Yami did not receive a sting before reaching forward and putting his hand in to grab a coin, "You wouldn't bite the hand that feeds you…" He said with fake sweetness to the scorpion.

The owner was lucky and was able to get a coin out, thus making it Yami's turn. Yami looked not in the least bit worried as he went to get another coin, which pissed the owner off more.

An evil smirk developed over the owner's face as another plan came to mind to win the game. "Now it's my turn," He said once Yami successful got another coin, "One question. As long as you stick your hand in the shoe to grab the coins anything goes right?"

Yami nodded, "Yes…"

"I see…" The owner said reaching behind him for something, "If that's the case…" With a quick swipe he stabbed the front of the shoe where the scorpion was supposed to be with a knife while reaching his whole hand in to grab all the coins, "Too bad scorpion, but if you're dead… I can take all the coins at once!" He turned looked up to Yami with a laugh, "This game is mine! Pay up kid!"

Yami continued to hold the same smirk on his face and crossed his arms, "You think? That's a dangerous card to play. You got greedy and took a fistful of coins and now…"

It was then the owner realized he couldn't pull his fist out of the shoe. As much as he tired there was no getting it out unless he dropped all the coins.

"And is the scorpion truly dead?" Yami questioned which caused a look of terror to cross the owner's face as shuffling could be heard within the shoe.

The shop was then filled with screams as the scorpion hit its mark causing the owner to drop the coins and pulled the hand out that was in extreme pain.

"In the shadow games, those with weak hearts always lose," Yami said as he went about getting the scorpion carefully out of the shoe then pocketing the coins again while the owner withered on the floor in pain. "If you had any love for your scorpion or those sneakers, I couldn't have foretold how this game would turn out…" With those words the game was over and Yami had won once again.

* * *

Joey had successful gotten both him and Tristan completely lost while trying to find the shop again since he had thrown away the map and address with his old shoes. The two also had tried to relocate their friend who had gone missing at the arcade. It was only when they finally remembered the streets it was on and got close enough did they find Yami coming out of the alley with the shoes.

"Dude you got them back?" Joey questioned not believing it.

Yami nodded, "I hurried back to the shop while you dealt with the thugs so the owner couldn't resale them, but when I got there he was being taken to the hospital from a scorpion sting. So I simply went in and got the shoes back since you paid for them." True Yami was lying though his teeth but he was pretty sure Joey wouldn't believe him if he told them that he had simply woken up with the owner being taken to the hospital and the shoes in his hand. He honestly couldn't remember what happened after he saw Joey and Tristan beating up the thugs for stealing the shoes.

Tristan frowned at that, "We were just about to go kick his butt…"

"Oh and I don't know why but…" Yami held out the shoes to Joey, "There's a hole in one of the sneakers."

Joey freaked at that, but soon realized the damaged wasn't that bad as he took the shoes back and put them on. He would just have to get new laces for the pair. "I'll consider this hole a battle scar!" The blond said with a grin.

"I still don't get it…" Tristan said as he rolled his eyes as they all started to walk back to Joey's truck.

The day had been long and tiring and the three were just ready to go home for the night. Plus a certain crimson eyed teen still had to call his partner to see how he was doing and tell him of the weird errand he had to run with their friends.

* * *

**Sakura: **I tried to make this chapter less boring, but it's not one of my favorites. I thought it would be better to let Yami hang out with Joey and Tristan for a change and put Tristan in the story a little more. Thankfully now I can move on and bring Seto into the story with the next chapter!

**Yumi: Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **If there are any puppyshipping fans reading this then you may or may not like this chapter. I'm not going to say there is puppyshipping, because it won't be established in this chapter, but it's a starting point. Most importantly Seto will make a appearance in this chapter and the next one. Also one last thing pay close attention to this first part of the chapter, I added my own little twist!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**The Cards with Teeth (Part One)**

The bell above the game shop door rang signaling to Yugi he had a costumer. However when he looked up from the gaming magazine he was lazily flipping through his horrible afternoon became a little brighter. His frown turned into a smile as he welcomed his friends inside. Tea, Tomoya, Yami, and Joey walked up to the counter Yugi was forced to work behind and stood in front of it given the shop had no costumers at the moment.

"Boring day?" Yami questioned while Yugi groaned.

"It's the worst! I'm waiting on grandpa to get back from his little errand then I'll be free."

Joey grinned down at his little friend, "Good because I still need to beat you at that fighter game down at the arcade."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten," Yugi said before he turned to his lover, "I guess plans changed with your brother?"

Yami shook his head, "No, but I got a call that he was running late, so I told him I would be down here at the game shop. Hitch a ride over here with Joey before he left, so at least there is a bright side to my day."

Yugi rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Yami. "You're just hoping Seto will decide not to come by here to get you."

"Whatever you say," Yami said with a grin before he moved away to go look at something.

"So Yug," Joey piped up getting Yugi's attention again, "Any new cards come in?"

Yugi thought about it before he reached below the counter for a small box. "Only a few single cards came in from Pegasus. A new line of cards are getting ready to come out next month and he sent our shop a few to display to the public."

Joey carefully took the box from Yugi and started to look inside, while Tea said, "I can tell business is still doing good if Pegasus is sending you items for the shop."

Yugi sighed, "It not so much the new items, it's the fact that Grandpa still likes to point out that his grandson is the King of Games. I think I work as a poster boy more than the front counter." He gestured to the empty shop, "I'm just glad grandpa picked a slow time to let me handle the counter. The older crowd is pretty simple to handle than the younger crowd."

"I'm sure the ladies are still coming around every so often," Joey teased since almost every week girls would come in the shop to get a peek at Yugi.

The growl from Yami could be heard across the room where he and Tomoya had moved over to check out the new RPG items in that week. Yugi sighed and waved it off, "Don't worry dear you're the only one for me." He then turned a glare toward Joey, "You love to get him riled up don't you."

Joey shrugged and handed Yugi back the box, "You just have a very jealous boyfriend is all."

The bell on top the door rang again and all eyes turned to see Solomon Mutou walked in with a bag. "Oh it seems we have visitors today," He commented heading over to the counter to stand beside Yugi. The bag was then passed over to his grandson, "I got the items your mother asked for."

Yugi eyes widen, "That is the errand you had to run? I could have done that!"

Solomon simply smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Now don't keep your mother waiting…"

Yugi grumble something under his breath, before grabbing the bag and heading in the back of the shop toward the apartment half of the place. A few seconds later Yami went right pass them to follow him. Tomoya rejoined everyone at the counter while Solomon took his seat back and all of them started to discuss duel monsters and other games.

It wasn't but a few minutes after Yugi and Yami returned that the door to the game shop opened again with the ringing of the bell. All of them looked up to see none other than Seto Kaiba himself standing in the doorway his silver briefcase in hand as always. He had not changed since the last time Yugi had seen him which was pretty much back in high school, since Seto never cared to get to know the person his brother was dating.

The tall CEO let his eyes wonder around the shop before they landed on Yami and Yugi. "So this is the game shop your family owns Mutou?"

Yugi nodded, "It's good to see you Kaiba." He said being formal with the taller male. The few times he was around Seto he hated the looks he got and tried to be as nice as possible.

Yami could feel the tension in the air so he made the first move and walked over to his brother, "Alright let's get this over with."

"Wants the rush little brother? I may want to see the game shop that has become famous thanks to the King of Games."

"How many times have I told you to drop the little! I'm the same age as you damn it!" Yami growled crossing his arms. "Besides you never cared before so let's go."

However Seto completely ignored his brother as he walked over to the counter to which Tea and Tomoya moved to the side, but Joey stood his ground. "You're not welcomed here Kaiba." The blond stated with a frown.

"And I didn't think they let dogs hang out in stores." Seto retaliated, which caused Joey to growl and attempt to go after the guy until Yugi and Tea pushed him over to the side.

Yami sighed, "Alright enough with the insults can we go?"

Seto once again ignore his brother and was taking a peek at the cards displayed in the counter and on the self behind Mr. Mutou until his eyes locked on one card. "It can't be…"

Solomon looked behind him at the card that had caught Seto's eye. It was none other than the Blue Eyes White Dragon a rather rare card that he never had plans on selling.

"Old man…" Seto said slamming his hand on the counter causing Solomon to jump, "Where'd you get that card?"

It was then that Yami cringed, that was why he never wanted his brother to visit this certain game shop. All his life he wanted a Blue Eyes White Dragon card and when Yami found out Yugi's grandfather had one he kept it a secret and made Yugi promise not to ever let it slip if they were in his brother's presence. Now Yami saw it was a mistake to let Seto pick him up at the game shop but he had no idea he would come inside.

"Seto…?"

It was too late Seto had already put his briefcase on the counter and opened it showing thousands of rare duel monsters cards. "Old man…! If you give me that Blue-Eyes White Dragon I'll trade you all of these cards!" He explained to the shock of everyone but Yami.

Yugi looked between his grandfather and Seto, but could already tell his grandfather wouldn't go for the deal. That card was too precious to him. He took a quick look toward his partner and saw Yami glaring daggers at Seto's back. Once this was over with Seto was going to hear an ear full from Yami, which in turn would mean later in the night Yami would call him to complain about his brother.

"I'm sorry but no…" It was a quick and simply response from Solomon which surprised everyone but Yami and Yugi.

By the look on Seto's face he wasn't happy, so Solomon went on to explain, "I know why you want this card so much. However I have a good reason to hold on to it. It's not just because it's a strong card. An important gamer friend of mine from America gave me this card. This card is important to me as my friend. I could never give it up." He said pointing to the photo that was beside the dragon which showed grandpa standing beside another older gentleman. "If you really treasure something it grows a heart of its own. Just like that card. You would never trade anything for it. So take good care of each and every card in this case Kaiba then you'll find the true strength of the game."

Seto shut his brief case and without another world grabbed it while turning around to leave. Yami waved to the others before he followed him out the door prepared to give him the lecture of a life time. That was completely embarrassing and Yami wasn't going to stand for it.

Once they were gone the tension left the room so everyone could relax again. However a few questions still lingered in the air.

"They are the same age?" Tomoya voiced up making everyone turned to look at him. He blushed at the attention, but elaborated, "I know Seto was in our class but I thought he was a year older than Yami."

"They're fraternal twins." Yugi told him and it seemed like this was the first time Tea and Joey heard this as Joey turned on him with widened eyes.

"Seriously…?" Joey asked with shock clear in his voice. "I mean they look and act nothing alike."

"Fraternal twins don't look so much alike as identical twins," Solomon explained to the blond, "Although those two take it to the extreme level being completely different in looks."

Yugi was surprised his friends were surprised by this when Yami and Seto were in their class for the longest time. "I thought you already knew all this. Yami explained it to me back when we first started dating. They look nothing alike but they were born at the same time, well Yami was born five minutes later but it was still on the same day."

"I hate to be in Yami's shoes." Joey commented the shock of it all settling down. "He has been following in his brother's footsteps since birth."

Yugi nodded, "Yami just never lets it get to him. There are some things he can do that his brother can't, plus it's thanks to their little brother Mokuba that they are even civil with each other."

"And what would that be?" Tea questioned wanting Yugi to continue.

Honestly Yugi couldn't believe he was explaining all this to his friends when they have known Yami for years now. "Now you have to promise to keep this a secret," He got a nod from them and then said, "If it hadn't been for Mokuba getting sick it would have probably been both Yami and Seto in the finals at Duelist Kingdom and between those two Seto would have stood no chance again Yami."

This was the most shocking news of the day. "They didn't enter because of Mokuba?" Tomoya asked for all of them.

"Yeah, after I won Duelist Kingdom and Yami and I started to date he told me the truth. He explained to me that he and Seto were worried about Mokuba since he was running such a high fever at such a young age and backed out of the tournament. Seto was already the national champion here in Japan, so it wasn't a big lost to him and Yami admitted to me he only enjoy duel monsters when it was a simple fun game. He used to play all the time with Seto when they were younger, but then Seto started to compete in tournaments to become better than Yami so it became less fun for Yami." Yugi explained to them. He was pretty sure if he had ever gone up against Yami or Seto in a tournament they would have given him a run for his money. The young duelist sometimes wondered what a duel with them would be like and if he would win since he did defeat the creator of duel monsters. Yami however never would duel him and sometimes Yugi wondered why. He honestly never seen Yami hold a deck of cards unless he was helping Yugi tweak his a little.

Joey got this odd smirk on his face. "I would love to see Yami wipe the floor with Kaiba."

Yugi glare at his friend, "Now don't go telling Yami I told you all this. If he hasn't already told you it was for good reason. They may not be the perfect family, but there are some things in Yami's life he wants to keep private from the media."

"I did promise didn't I. Don't worry so much…" Joey said, because when he makes a promise he knows when to keep it. "Alright can we finally go to the arcade?"

The plans to go to the arcade that had almost been forgotten about, but now they were set back into motion and the small group was ready to have some fun.

* * *

The next day was hectic for Joey Wheeler as his boss called him in early on a Sunday when it was normally his day to sleep in after a long time at work on Saturday night. He was simply a bus boy cleaning tables at a restaurant and it didn't seem like hard work but it was when the place got busy. The job allowed him to have some money on the side thanks to Yami covering the rent of the apartment and a little money to help his father out. Although he wasn't close to his father since moving out, the old man was still his parent and he felt the need to look out for him. Mr. Wheeler was decent on the days he wasn't drunk, so as long as Joey saw him on days he was sober they were both good.

After working at the restaurant until well after one in the afternoon, Joey ended up getting a flat tire on his truck and had to have the thing towed to Tristan's work so he could get a good deal on a new tire. That took another two hours since the place had been packed with other clients.

When he finally got back to the apartment the only thing he wanted to do was eat a snack and sleep the day away, but it seemed like fate was not on his side. As soon as the blond sat down with a sandwich to relax his cell phone rang. He grabbed the annoying device and looked at the number. It was listed as unknown and he thought about ignoring it, but in case it was one of his friends calling from somewhere else he decided to answer.

"Hello?"

"_I'm surprised you answered…"_

Joey frowned at the familiar voice, but for some reason he couldn't quite place it. "Who is this?"

"_I'm hurt mutt I figured you would remember me."_

"Oh hell no…! How the hell did you get my number?" Joey yelled into the phone. There was only one person who called him mutt and it was the last person he wanted to talk to.

There was a chuckle on the other end, "_It was pretty easy. I pay for my brother's phone bill and I can see every number he dials."_

Joey growled, "I want you to lose this number. The last thing I need is for you to harass me over the phone. I got enough of you in high school."

"_Oh come on now Joey, all that was in the past. I could be a changed man for all you know."_

"Yeah when hell freezes over…" Joey mumbled under his breath, but he was pretty sure Kaiba could still hear it. "What do you want anyway? Yami's not with me, he is out with Anzu and Yugi."

"_I called to see if you wanted to grab a coffee with me tomorrow."_

Joey nearly choked on the bite of sandwich he had eaten and had to grab his glass of water to wash it down. Once he could breathe again, he could only say, "What?"

"_You know coffee or do you not drink that. We could always go somewhere else."_

The blond was about to have heart failure. He couldn't believe the same stuck up CEO he went to high school with who used to love to mess with him and insult him was asking him out. "Alright who put you up to this prank?" Joey asked not one bit believing him. As much as he secretly would love to take him up on the offer there was no way this was real. It was a stupid crush he had on the CEO back in high school and he gave up on Seto changing long ago. Seto was the only guy he had ever had a crush on before so he figured it was a onetime thing and it was time to move on. Kaiba was the one person who made him question his sexuality for reasons Joey wished he knew.

"_No one put me up to this. I realized you must have thought I was the same jerk from high school after the way I acted at the game shop. Yami had a talk with me and made me promise to apologize to you. We are both grown-ups now and I think it's time we put high school behind us."_

Joey rolled his eyes. "Easier say than done Kaiba…."

"_Give me one chance and then after tomorrow if you never want to see or hear from me again I will understand."_

A part of Joey wanted to deny the offer, but a small part of him wondered what it would be like to hang out with someone like Kaiba. Back in high school he used to wonder what it would be like to go on a date, however if he agreed to this he would make it clear to Kaiba they were just hanging out. "Fine, but I have classes so I'll call you and we can meet somewhere, but a place of my choice."

It was silent on the other end before Kaiba said, "_I'll agree to that. See ya later puppy!" _

The line went dead before Joey could say anything else and he pulled the phone away from him looking at it funny. "Did he just call me puppy?" Joey wondered and seriously wished he knew what went through Seto's head when he gave him those stupid nicknames. The idea of going out with someone who could make his blood boil wasn't the way he had planned to spend his afternoon tomorrow, but if anything he was partly curious to see what would happen.

* * *

A week and a half later the gang was getting together one fairly warm Saturday afternoon at the park. It was the one day everyone could get together so they planned it out especially since the winter whether would be rolling in soon. Everyone was supposed to bring something to eat to share and bring their dueling decks. Joey thought it would be cool to have a little tournament, plus he was secretly hoping Yami would agree to duel also so he could see how really good he was.

The picnic table was full of food at the spot the group picked out around noon except one end of the table which had a dueling mat laid out. At the moment while the others watched, Tomoya and Duke were attempting to duel each other and the winner would go up against someone else. Tea and Tristan had been the first to duel with Tristan losing rather quickly even though both were still low level players then Duke was voted to go up against Tea. The two had been dating for a while now but that didn't stop Duke from beating her, which didn't seem to bother Tea one bit. Tomoya was now going up against Duke and at the moment it looked like Tomoya might win the duel with his favorite zombie cards.

Yami currently had Yugi on his lap the two of them sharing some chip and dip, but mostly Yami was trying to avoid begin picked to duel next. He had a feeling though Joey either wanted to go up against him or he wanted Yami to go up against Yugi. The crimson eye teen couldn't even lie that he didn't have a deck because Yugi knew that he did have one. His little one begged him to bring it and at least try to have fun.

A cry of victory was heard as Tomoya somehow managed to win. Duke was putting his cards away and stood up from his spot. "Alright I'm out who is next?"

Yugi looked around the group of friends and then looked to Joey who was busy with his phone, "You want to go next Joey?"

Joey shook his head and was still typing on his phone. "You can go ahead buddy…"

Yugi frowned at that before he looked to Yami, "You want to go?"

"Do you seriously have to ask?" Yami questioned hoping to get out of it.

The smaller sighed before he stood up and moved to the spot Duke had once sat at. "I guess I'm up next," He announced pulling out his deck and shuffling the cards. Tomoya looked a little nervous but Yugi gave him a reassuring smile, "No worries, sometimes you have to go up against the toughest opponents first to get stronger."

"I'll have to trust you on that," Tomoya said back to him as he gathered his cards and reshuffled them.

As they started their duel, Yami poked Joey's leg with his foot under the table. "What is with you and that phone?"

Joey looked up, before looking back at his phone and then putting it away, "Sorry, I invited someone to join us and he is late."

"Oh I didn't think you were seeing anyone…" Yami teased which caused a blush to light up on Joey's face, "Is this why you have been avoiding all of us for the past week and a half."

Joey was quick to shake his head no, "You have the wrong idea he is just a friend."

A tall figure was caught heading their way out of the corner of their eyes and both Joey and Yami turned at the same time. Yami's eyes widen while Joey had a smile on his face as none other than Seto Kaiba came walking up to their table. Joey stood up to Yami's surprise and approached the CEO.

"Took you long enough…."

"The meeting took longer than I thought pup, but I'm here now." Seto said with a smile which caused Yami's jaw to drop. He never smiled for anyone but their little brother!

That voice caught everyone's attention and there were a lot of surprise looks because of the scene in front of them. Never in a million years did they think that Joey and Seto could stand to be near each other let along Seto having his arms around Joey's shoulder as if they were the best of friends.

This was all too much and Yami was freaking out a little. He stood up without warning and went over to Joey grabbing his hand. "Can I have a word with you alone?" He stressed pulling Joey away from the group as Seto moved over to see the duel between Tomoya and Yugi. At first the two weren't sure what to do, but Yugi somehow composed himself long enough to make his next move.

Once they were at a good distance Yami turned on Joey, "What the hell was that about?"

Joey looked confused, "I don't know what you are talking about."

"That!" Yami shouted pointing toward his twin, "You two hated each other just a week ago and now you are…are…" He couldn't even find the right words.

"Friends…" Joey finished for him with a nod, "He called me up and wanted to apologize for the way he acted that one day at the game shop. Actually he said you told him he should apologize to me. We went out for lunch soon after that and I'm surprised by how much he has changed since high school."

"Apologize?" Yami questioned confused. He just told Seto to stop insulting his friends he knew Seto would never apologize to anyone. The shorter teen looked toward his brother who was giving Tomoya some pointers which was scaring Yami slightly. He had never seen his brother be so friendly to people. "Even if he did apologize why in the world are you two so civil with each other?"

Joey looked toward Seto and Yami noticed the look because it was the same look he got when he thought about Yugi or so his friends told him. "I don't know. We went out for lunch that one time and he was so nice to me for once. I guess he changed over the last few years for the better. After that we kept in touch and continued to hang out when we could."

"So this has nothing to do with the crush you had on my brother back in high school?"

The blush was back on Joey's face, "Who told you that!"

"Who else… Yugi told me a while back about the crush you had. We have no secrets between each other and at one point Yugi thought you two might end up together so he thought I should know." Yami pulled Joey's attention back to him, "So does it?"

Joey shook his head, "No it doesn't! I got over that crush a long time ago and moved on. Besides it wouldn't hurt for your brother to be friends with me since you are dating my best friend." He was lying through his teeth since over the past week that crush was slowly returning, but Yami didn't need to know that.

Of course Yami didn't believe him, but let it go in favor of walking back to the table before his brother did something stupid. Joey followed right behind and went over to sit back in his seat. Yami sat across from him and kept a watchful eye on twin.

"It is fun watching you play," Seto informed Yugi as he was nearly done with the duel, "Maybe one day you and I can duel each other."

Yugi put on his best smile even though it as a little weird with his boyfriend's brother hovering over his duel with his friend. "Thanks maybe one day we will."

Seto took note that Yugi's other friends were busy talking and eating and the only one watching him was the mutt and his brother. The plan was in full swing and he just hoped he could pull it off with his next question. "By the way, do you have the blue-eyes white dragon with you by any chance?"

"How'd you know it was there?" Yugi asked as he picked up his deck box which was beside him. The day before Joey had asked him if he could bring it to their friendly tournament since he wanted to see it in action. Joey had the famous red eyes black dragon and his friend had said he wanted to see how the two would fair in a duel together. It was surprising that Seto knew he had it, "I begged grandpa to lend it to me just for the day."

"Could you show it to me one more time?" Seto asked carefully, "Ever since I saw it in your shop I haven't been able to get it off my mind. What your grandfather said made me realize what it means to love the cards."

At first Yugi didn't look too sure, before he put on another smile and took the card out of his deck box. "Okay then, but be careful."

Seto held the card in his hand once it was handed to him as he had his other hand in his back pocket. "It truly is a beautiful card." He waited until his brother looked away for a second and no one else was playing attention before he pulled a copy of the card out of his pocket and put the real card behind him in his other pocket. "Thank you, Yugi. Just holding this card makes me love this game more than ever."

Yugi took the card back and looked at it for a second before he put it back in his deck box. "No problem."

After that Seto moved away from the duel and back over to Joey where a seat was open. The rest of the gang seemed to ignore the CEO while Joey easily struck up a conversation with him. The duels were quickly forgotten about as Tomoya lost the duel and fixed himself another plate, while Yugi moved back over to Yami and sat back in his lap. As Yami wrapped his arms around Yugi he glared at his brother as his twin put his arm around Joey's shoulders once again to which the blond did nothing about it. Yami was sure his brother didn't know, but Yami knew what his brother had done, however he was going to be the bigger person and not cause a scene. No Yami would confront his brother but later when the two were alone.

* * *

**Sakura: **Instead of the start of the duel we all know is coming up being in this chapter, I did it different from the manga and I am saving the confrontation for the next chapter along with the full duel. I had to add a hint of puppyshipping in here, but I'll leave my readers guessing on whether it will last much longer.

Oh and I'm sure I just totally blew some minds out there with the whole twin thing. I had that planned from the start because I thought it would be a nice twist. I always wanted to make Seto and Yami twins since they are always cousins in the stories I read. It changes things up a little… Plus I have seen some twins before that look nothing alike, but were born at the same time. It's really interesting how that turns out.

**Yumi: Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **I can't guarantee two updates every week, but this chapter was already finished and I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get it out there for the readers to read. Let's see how everything turns out with Seto after his little stunt last chapter...

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**The Card with Teeth (Part Two)**

Later in the evening Yugi found himself in the elevator at Kaiba Corp with his boyfriend. Yami looked pissed and Yugi knew he had good reason to be. Yugi knew Seto had stolen his grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon, but kept quiet about it so he didn't cause a scene. What Yugi hadn't known was that his lover had noticed it too and as soon as they found some time alone, Yami dragged him to Kaiba Corp to confront Seto about it. This had to be hard on Yami given it was his twin who stole form Yugi, but that still didn't stop the smaller teen from worrying how this would turn out. Yami did have a bit of a temper and sometimes he would say things he did not mean. Yugi only hoped that Mokuba wasn't here with his brother.

When they stepped off the elevator at the top floor they found it empty with Kaiba's secretary nowhere to be found. However what they did find was yelling coming from the closed office doors and Yugi knew that voice.

"What is Joey doing here?" He asked but went silent when Joey started yelling again.

"You're a no good bastard! I trusted you and you pull a stunt like this!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about mutt! If you only came to yell at me I suggest you leave before I call security."

"I can't believe I thought we could be friends!"

Seto's laugh was clear through the doors. "Friends…? You seriously thought I would want to be friends with someone like you."

"So all this time you were using me? You really are an egotist prick. I will never understand what I saw in you to make me like you."

Yugi felt sorry for Joey having to go through all this. He had a feeling the blond still had feeling for Seto and he hated to see him being hurt like that.

"Love is for the weak mutt…."

Yami seemed to have had enough as he pushed opened the doors to the office and strolled right in with Yugi hurrying behind him. They found Seto calmly sitting at his desk with Joey standing in front of it. His face was red from all the yelling and from knowing him for years Yugi could tell he was trying to hold back tears.

Joey straighten himself up and turned to his friend, "Yami, Yugi, what are you two doing here?"

Yugi bravely stepped up and faced Seto, "I came to get my card back."

A look of shock took over Joey's face, "You saw it too…"

Yami nodded, "Yugi didn't say anything about him switching the cards because so many people were around. He didn't want to cause a scene." He turned to Seto, "I also saw what you did Seto and I can't believe you would stoop so low just for a card."

"You think I stole your card?" Seto laughed at that, "I give it back to you just as I told the mutt here."

Joey growled at that, but Yugi looked at him to be quiet, "Even I can tell the difference between a copy and the real thing…" He looked back to Seto almost begging him to return it. "Please just give it back."

Seto stood up and slammed his hands on his desk. "I know nothing about it!"

"You must know!" Yuugi yelled trying his hardest not to cry. "You have to know how important that card is to my grandpa! If I don't keep my promise and give him his card back, I'll break grandpa's heart. I can't do that to him. He's my grandpa! I can't betray him."

"Oh come on… what about my feelings?" Seto said with a hidden smirk as he reached for the button to call security, "I really don't know about your card."

Yugi saw what he was doing and rushed forward putting his hand over the button. "But Kaiba..!"

"Shut up already!" Seto yelled before shocking them all by backhanding Yugi.

Yami's eyes widen in shock as he saw his lover back away with a hand to his face. His eyes slowly started to harden as he glared at his brother, family or not, his brother did not have any right to touch Yugi in such a way. Joey looked about ready for a fight as he also glared at the CEO.

"How dare you!" Joey growled out.

Just before the two could do something about it, Yugi's posture changed before he too looked up at Seto with a glare, "Fine, I'll duel you for the card back."

Both Yami and Joey were taken by surprise at that. Somehow Yami's anger started to leave at seeing Yugi stand up for himself. His partner was getting stronger every day it seemed.

"Yugi are you sure?" Yami asked while Yugi turned to him with a smile.

"We will prove right here and now who deserves the Blue Eyes White Dragon."

* * *

A few minutes later Yami and Joey found themselves in the testing area of Kaiba Corp where Yami had witness his twin spend countless hours perfecting his hologram technology for the game of Duel Monsters. It was the same system used in the Duelist Kingdom tournament and now other tournaments around the world. At first it seemed like a simple table with two chairs in the middle of the room, but on closer look, the table had places set up for the cards and around the table were holographic monitors to make the Duel monsters come to life on the table. Since the first creation, the system has had some changes made to it like the weird glass box that used to go around it. Yami had always felt claustrophobia in the thing which the one time his brother listened to him about changing the design of it.

Now he was about to witness his lover and twin brother go up against each other. He knew Seto never backed down from a challenge and he was probably overjoyed by this moment to try and take Yugi's title as King of Games away. The problem for Yami was they still did not know if Seto had the Blue Eyes White Dragon on him or not.

A hand landed on Yami's shoulder as Yugi and Seto took their places. He looked up to see Joey smiling down at him, "Don't worry, Yugi ain't going to let old money bags over there, take him down so easy."

"I'm not I am more worried about my brother. Yugi will probably win this duel and thus give my brother the crushing blow he deserves."

He heard the teen beside him sigh, "I think I get what you are saying. Ever since I meant him in high school I felt like this was never the real Seto. Then I got to be with him over the past week and I thought he changed. This duel will either knock some sense into him or make matters worse."

"Let's pray for the best," Yami said as he watched the duel as it began.

Seto drew his first card before laying the monster down in attack mood. "I'll summon Ryu-Kishin Gargoyle in attack mode," He announced as the monster appeared above the card as if it was alive.

Yugi looked carefully at his cards, before he laid down his own monster, "I choose The Blackland Fire Dragon to stand against your monster," He said before he called his attack, "The Dragon's flame breath defeats the gargoyle."

The dragon killed the gargoyle in one move taking five hundred of Kaiba's life points with it.

Kaiba kept his face blank as Yugi ended his turn and he drew his next card. "Alright, then I summon Minotaur the Battle Ox in attack mode," He then announced his own attack, "Go, Battle Ox, slice the fire dragon to ribbons!"

In one fluent movement the dragon was sliced to pieces and Yugi lost two hundred of his life points.

Joey could already tell by the looks on both the duelists faces that this duel was far from over. Yugi was the King of Games for a reason given how good he was at the game without really trying. He also knew that Seto was good but never had seen him duel before.

"My next card is The Mystical Elf!" Yugi said after he drew his card when Kaiba ended his turn. He put his monster in defense faced up. '_She has good defense but her attack won't stand against his battle ox. I'll play her defensively and buy some time.'_ He thought to himself trying to figure out the best strategy.

"Very smart… The mystical elf's defense beats battle ox's attack by a safe margin. If I attack, I'll just hurt myself…" Kaiba said what Yugi was thinking as he reached down to change his card, "So I'll go into defense mode as well." He then chuckled, "Looks like we're in a stalemate. So we'll take turns drawing and building our hands. At least until I draw a card that can defeat your elf."

Seto reached to draw a card and took a second to look at it before he placed it behind his monster faced down, "I'll save this for next turn."

'_What kind of card did he draw…?"_'Yugi thought to himself as he stared at the face down card, '_If his battle ox gets any stronger I won't be able to stop it.' _He then drew his next card and frowned when it was a weak monster known as Skull Servant. '_No good… A weak undead like this can't do anything!'_

There was no other choice he could make so Yugi placed the Skull Servant in defense mode face down to give himself a better defense before letting Kaiba take his turn.

Seto smirked as he flipped over his face down card, "I'm playing a spell card on my Battle Ox. Giant's Might gives Battle Ox a power boost by twenty percent."

The Battle Ox's attack power went up from one thousand and seven hundred to two thousand and forty. With the beast powered up there was nothing stopping Kaiba from launching his next attack. "Now Battle Ox's attack is higher than your stupid Elf's defense! Attack the Elf!"

In one movement Mystical Elf was no more and Yugi was forced to simply draw a card and place another monster face down.

Yami watched as the turns went by and Yugi could only defend himself with face down monsters. He knew Yugi had something strong enough in his deck to beat that Battle Ox it was just a matter of him drawing it. The crimson eyed teen looked toward his brother who was enjoying every minute of this duel. He only wished he could wipe that smirk off his face, but the only thing he could do was trust Yugi.

"Give up Yugi! There's no way you can win," Kaiba taunted as the Battle Ox wiped out the last monster on Yugi's side.

Yugi ignored Kaiba's words as he stared at his deck. '_I believe in my deck…' _He told himself as he drew his next card. His eyes lit up in surprise before a smirk of his own took over his face, "Summoned Skull come forth in attack mode!"

This move took Kaiba by surprise and he was at a loss for words as Yugi called for his monster to attack, "Say goodbye to Battle Ox! Demon Lightning!"

Joey watched at that moment as the tide turn in Yugi's favorite and any card Kaiba put down was taken down easily by Summon Skull. He knew Yugi wasn't down for the count not in the slightest.

The next few turns were going to be the deciding factor in his duel and by the looks in both duelists eyes neither one were ready to give up. Yami could tell by the look in Yugi's eyes that this duel was just as challenging as the duel with Pegasus, however something seemed off about his brother. He couldn't tell what it was but something did not seem right when he looked at his brother.

"I have to say you're pretty good Yugi. I see now why Pegasus never stood a chance against you," Kaiba said and Yami noticed he had reached down on his other side for something. "But this is as far as it goes," Seto told Yugi as his hand came back up and hovered over his deck like he had just draw a card, "I've got a special card I've been saving for this eventuality…."

Yami knew at that moment what had happened and his nightmare came true when his own twin brother played the powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"What?" Yugi gasped in shock, he knew Kaiba had his grandfather's Blue Eyes but he didn't think he would play it.

The powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon came to life before them all in its shiny glory. Yugi along with Joey and Yami were in a state of shock.

"I know nothing about your grandfather's card… This is my very own card. I just happened to get it from someone." Kaiba told them with a smirk, "Your summoned skull doesn't stand a chance against my dragon and I'm pretty sure nothing in your deck will help you. It would seem the great King of Games has finally lost a duel."

Yugi knew if he tried he could win this duel, but at the moment it just felt hopeless. His hands went to his puzzle in a silent prayer and he never noticed the soft glow it gave off. Yami however did notice it, but it was gone as quickly as it came so it put it off as a tick of light as he eyes went back to the duel.

"Go Blue Eyes! Finish Yugi off!"

However it was to the surprise of everyone in the room the Blue Eyes White Dragon did not move or attack at all.

"Huh? Why don't you attack?" Kaiba asked confused.

A thought stuck Yami at that moment and before he knew what he was doing he was saying, "Seto… You still don't understand the true meaning of this game. That card won't attack Yugi, because your soul isn't in that Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"W-What?" Seto yelled looked toward Yami.

"Grandpa's soul is behind those blue eyes…" Yami stated as the dragon slowly started to disappear. "To Yugi's grandpa that card was more than a collectible. The dragon was torn between its fate to destroy and it's loyalty to Grandpa's soul. It chose to destroy itself as the only way to fulfill its duty."

"That's impossible….!" Seto exclaimed, "There's no way that cards can think!"

Yugi looked toward Yami who nodded his head, before Yugi gave his full attention back to the duel. He reached down to flip over the card he had put down his last turn, "I'll choose this turn to use my face down card. Monster Reborn!"

The powerful Blue Eyes White Dragon appeared once again but on Yugi's side of the field this time around. "Attack Burst Stream!" Yugi commanded the dragon and it obeyed with no problem taking out the rest of Kaiba's life points.

Seto could only sit there in shock as he was defeated in a game he had greatly excelled at. Now he had suffered a grueling defeat against a powerful rival.

Yami walked over to the table as Yugi picked up his cards and carefully picked up the Blue Eyes White Dragon from the table. His brother did nothing to stop him as he could only stare down at his cards not believing they failed him. "I hope this is a lesson to you brother, the heart of the cards is real and once you learn to respect your cards as Yugi has that is when you will become a true duelist. As for the dragon, Yugi will be returning it to his grandfather as agreed upon in this duel." Once those words left his lips Yami turned and joined Yugi, who had walked over to Joey.

The blond watched Seto for the longest time, before he torn his eyes away to look down at his best buddy. "Good job Yug…"

Yugi smiled up at him, "Thanks," His smile got even brighter when Yami handed him back his grandfather's card. "Grandpa will be so happy to have this back where it belongs."

Yami ruffled Yugi's hair, before slinging an arm around his shoulders, "Come on lets grab some dinner on the way home first. It's been a while since we had lunch."

As if nothing had changed the three walked away, but not before Joey glanced one more time over his shoulder. He let out a sigh as Seto had yet to move from that spot. It seemed things would never work out between those two and yet Joey hated the fact that he felt like he had his heart ripped out of his chest and stomped on.

* * *

"Hey Yami…" Silence was the only reply Yugi got, so he rolled over in his bed to see Yami facing away from him. He sat up and looked over to see if Yami was still awake or not. What he found was Yami staring straight ahead at the door which was closed and locked so Yugi's mother wouldn't walk in and find out Yami was not sleeping on the floor like she wanted him to when he spent the night. "Yami, I can see you're not asleep."

Yami let out a sigh and rolled over so he was on his back, "What is it Yugi?"

"I wanted to know if you were alright…" Yugi said as he lay down on top of Yami, "You were quiet at dinner."

Yami looked off to the side avoiding eye contact with his partner, "I can't say that I'm fine, I'm worried how all this will turn out in the long run."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that my brother has always been this strong silent guy. That was okay at first, but now…" Yami ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "He resorted to stealing just to get what he wanted. I used to look up to him when I was little and now he pulls a stunt like this. I'm just glad Mokuba wasn't around to see it."

Yugi nodded as he listened, "But you gotten remember Mokuba has two big brothers to look up to. Seto made a mistake and hopefully our duel will help him see that."

"Then there is Joey…" Yami explained next, "I knew back in high school he had a crush on my brother, which to this day I will never understand, then Seto goes and plays with his heart. I understand he doesn't like Joey, but Joey is my friend and I can't stand the way Seto treated him."

"You know Joey used to chase after girls a lot back in high school with Tristan," Yugi pointed out, before he said, "It really surprised me when he came to me one day and asked how could I tell that I was gay. I couldn't understand where the question was coming from until he confided in me about Seto. Honestly I don't see how the two would work either, but there is something about Seto that draws Joey in."

Yami snorted, "If only Seto would get off his high horse of love is for the weak. I don't think he will ever end up with someone at this rate."

Yugi reached out to turn Yami's head to look at him. He planted a kiss on Yami's nose then his mouth. The younger smiled as he said, "Maybe he just needs to find that special someone like I did that can open his eyes."

The crimson eyed teen could not stop his own smile as he wrapped his arms around Yugi, "I hope your right and maybe with time that someone can be Joey."

"I'm pretty sure if given the chance Joey would love to knock some sense into him," The smaller grinned down at Yami, "Just don't go playing matchmaker. I saw how Joey was during dinner and I think he needs some time to think things over."

Yami agreed with him, "I promise, but I am going to check up on him tomorrow before I go and visit Moki."

"Good now can we get some sleep."

"That or I can think of some much more interesting things we can be doing…"

"Get your mind out of the gutter…!"

That night Yami did end up sleeping on the floor with only his pillow as company.

* * *

**Sakura:** I'm so horrible at writing out duels, but I did my best! It sucks that this chapter wasn't as long as the others, but I will try and make that up with the next few chapters.

On another note, I went off the duel from the manga so as seen some of the rules of duel monsters during their duel were changed. Like I know during Duelist Kingdom you couldn't attack your opponent directly, but then that was changed for Battle City yet in this chapter of the manga, which is before Duelist Kingdom, Blue Eyes was used to attack Seto directly. It's all weird, but then again during this part in the manga Seto and Yami were just plain old dueling in a shadow game so it felt like there really weren't any rules, except no cheating. Just felt like I should explain that for some reason.

**Yumi: Anyway please REVIEW! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **I really enjoyed reading the reviews for the last chapter. Now it's time for the aftermath and seeing how Joey is coping with what happened...

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**The Wild Gang (Part One)**

Monday mornings were always a drag and it seriously made Yami rethink having morning classes. As the crimson eye teen made his way into the kitchen having dressed and showered for the morning, he found only Tristan at the table. Their blond friend was nowhere to be seen and it was getting closer to the time him and Yami needed to head to the campus.

"Joey hasn't gotten up yet?" Yami questioned as he made himself a piece of toast and some coffee.

"I don't think he came home last night," Tristan informed him, "I checked his room a couple of minutes ago and it's still empty."

Yami turned to face Tristan with a cup of coffee in hand and a frown on his face. "I know he was spending the weekend with his father, but I figured he would have gotten back sometime last night."

Joey's father was known throughout their group as a complete drunk. Yami never had met the guy in person but he heard plenty of stories from Joey. Apparently the guy was okay to be around when sober, but one too many beers and it was better to keep your distance from him. Even though the blond had finally gotten away from all that, the guy was still his dad so once in a while Joey would go visit him. It surprised Yami when Joey made plans to spend a full weekend with his father, but he had a feeling Joey just needed a change of scenery. It had only been a week since the thing with Seto and Yami was pretty sure Joey was still trying to get over his feelings for his prick of a brother.

Honestly Yami couldn't blame him and if he could Yami would never go back over to his brother's place again. However he did have a younger brother he had to visit and make sure was alright. He had to make sure Mokuba still knew that he cared for him and they would always be a family.

"It probably just got late and he decided to stay another night," Tristan said with a shrug, "He'll probably be in class by the time you get there."

Yami nodded and turned back to his toast as soon as it popped out of the toaster. "Oh and Yugi wanted me to remind you about lunch. We're gonna meet around two correct?"

Tristan grabbed his empty breakfast plate and headed to the sink to place it in there. "I'm looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've been able to get away from the shop to eat a decent lunch. Sometimes it sucks being in the family business."

Yami smiled and shook his head as Tristan gathered what he needed and hurried out the door before he was late for work. After he was gone, Yami continued his routine of getting ready before he was late for class. It felt weird not having someone to walk to campus with, but it was just one of those off days and at least everyone was going to make time to get together for lunch.

* * *

Three classes later and the group of friends were standing just outside the gates to the campus waiting on Tristan. Yugi stood a little bit away from the group on his phone, but by the frown on his face something wasn't right. He finally sighed and hung up before joining the others again.

"I still can't get Joey on his phone," Yugi told them, "It's weird that he hasn't been to any of his classes or answer my phone calls."

Tea pulled out her own phone and checked it. "That is unlike Joey. I think I've sent him like ten texts and no reply."

The group stood their puzzled by their blond friend's absent, but it wasn't a minute later Tristan pulled up by the curb on his motorcycle. He got off and took off his helmet. One look at their faces and he knew something was up. "What's going on?"

"Joey didn't show up for any of his classes and we can't get him on his phone." Yami filled him in. It was completely strange of Joey to just disappear like this.

Tristan's eyes widen at that as he took out his own phone. "That is strange because for as long as we have been in school together Joey has never missed a day of school in his life." He dialed the blond's number and put the phone to his ear.

Yugi looked over at Tea, "That's right, I don't recall him every missing a day in high school. He was always the one to bring us our homework if we missed a day."

Tea nodded, "It's weird for him not to be around. I hope nothing happened to him."

"Damn!" The group jumped at Tristan's cursing as he shut his phone with a growl. "He won't answer, but he did say he was going to visit his dad. I'll go check and see if he is still there."

"Let's all go," Yugi spoke up and there was agreement all around. So Tristan waited as the others hurried to the student parking lot and piled into Duke's car. Thankfully it was only the five of them, because anyone else and they would have had to take Tea's car too. However Tomoya, Yugi, and Yami were able to fit in the back with Duke and Tea up front. After that was settle Duke followed Tristan as they traveled toward downtown Domino and the area where their old high school was and where Joey's dad still lived.

* * *

The apartment complex was the same as the last time Yugi had seen it. He had only seen it once back in high school when he and Joey stopped by one afternoon for Joey to get his overnight bag when he was going to stay at the game shop one night. Yugi had never gone in and to meet Joey's father, but from the stories he heard he probably was better off not knowing the guy.

The neighborhood was over all quiet and the building they parked in front of was somewhat decent looking from the outside just normal wear and tear from the elements. The group all piled out of the car and followed Tristan toward the stairs to go up to the third floor and to the last apartment at the end of that floor. The name plate outside the door read 'Wheeler' so they knew they had the right place.

Tristan bravely went up to the door and knocked on it. However silence only met them with no reply from within. "Anyone home…?" He called out as he reached for the doorknob and tried to open it. Surprisingly it opened with no problem, "The door's unlocked…" He informed the others as he opened the door just a little, "Let's take a peek… Maybe no one's home…"

Tristan, Yugi, and Tea peaked in through the small opening that Tristan created only to jump back in surprise as a bottle of booze was thrown at them smashing against the door.

"Hey! You Brat! Where Ya been the last two days!" A voice yelled from within scaring everyone else.

Tristan slammed the door closed and they all took off running down the stairs not once looking back. They did not stop until they were back by their vehicles to catch their breaths.

"That was scary…" Tomoya pointed out leaning on Duke's car. He looked toward Tristan, "Was that…?"

"Yeah that's his dad…" Tristan informed him, "He has his good days, but Joey is the only who comes around to see the old guy. The drinking is what caused Joey to want to move out as soon as high school was finished."

Yami could see firsthand now why Joey wanted to share an apartment with him and Tristan. Honestly if Joey hadn't come up with the idea in the first place Yami probably would still be living with his brothers. "His dad said that he's been gone two days… If that is the case then he must have made it here on Friday night and then disappeared."

Yugi bowed his head with worry in his eyes, "I wonder where he's gone…"

"Anyway let's look for him," Tristan said as he went back to his bike, "I know a few places he likes to hang out. We should look more toward the downtown area."

With those words everyone climbed once again into Duke's car to follow Tristan. It was going to be a long day but they were determined to locate their missing friend.

* * *

Lunch had all but been forgotten about as the large group wandered the streets of the downtown area near the mall trying to locate Joey. Where ever he was he most certainly did not want to be found it seemed.

"No good…" Tristan said as they stopped to rest, "He's nowhere. We've tried all his usual hangouts."

"Joey…" Yugi whispered as he lean against Yami for support. His legs were killing him from all the walking, but Joey had to be somewhere.

It seemed Tristan notice Yugi's face and decided to try and cheer him up, "I'll keep looking. You guys get home before it gets dark… Don't worry about him. I'm sure Joey will turn up tomorrow."

Yugi didn't seem convinced but Yami put an arm around him to reassure him.

"Tristan's right, Yugi… I'm sure Joey will be home tomorrow. He probably just wanted some alone time today and forgot to charge his phone." Yami guessed and hoped to put Yugi's mind at ease.

"HEY MAN!"

All heads turned down the street to see a large group standing outside a local convenience store. The guys were all fairly built and towered over the one guy who had walked out but a second ago. The brutes were talking rather loud so it was easy to hear what they were saying.

"Step on my foot?" One of them shouted, "Why don't you look where you walk?"

Another guy grabbed the poor man by the front of his jacket, "What you gonna give us to forget about it?"

Tristan sneered at the group as he recognized the thugs, "I've seen some of them before. I think a few of them went to Rintama High school. Better leave 'em alone…"

However something seemed to have caught Yugi's eye as he stood up and pointed over there. "Hey it's him!"

The rest of the group looked to where Yugi was pointing and noticed a certain blond hanging out with the group now that some of the thugs had moved out of the way to beat up on the poor guy before them.

This shocked everyone, but Tristan more than the rest of them, "Why…? Why is he with those punks?" He wondered out loud not believing what he was seeing.

Once the thugs were finished with the poor guy they started to walk off and before Yami could stop him, Yugi was taking off after them to catch up to Joey.

"Joey!" Yugi shouted getting the blond's attention causing him to stop along with the thugs that surrounded him. The smaller teen stopped a foot away and asked, "Why did you skip classes Joey? Why are you with people like them?"

A creepy looking teen puffing on a cigarette beside Joey looked behind him at Yugi, "People like them? Does he mean us? You know that kid, Joey?"

"Nah… Never seen him…" Joey said with a smirk, "Come on let's go."

"Joey!" Yugi yelled again as the blond went to walk away.

Before Joey could move however the leader of the group turned to the blond hair teen, "Heh… Joey you're too nice… Don't tell me at that big time college of yours you let kids like that follow you around. You should've joined up with us after high school from the start."

Tristan immediately recognized the group Joey was with and their leader now that they got a better look at them. '_That's him!' _He thought in disbelief, '_I've seen him with Joey before! That's Hirutani! But why is he back with him now?'_

"Come back with us, Joey!" Yugi said trying so hard to get through to the teen.

"Hirutani that kid's getting on my nerves…" The creepy lackey said to his boss, "Joey said he didn't know him."

The boss gave a nod of his head forcing the group of friends to witness the lackey rush over and punch Yugi clear across the face before they could do anything. "Clam it whiny!"

Yugi hit the ground hard his right cheek already developing a nasty looking bruise from the hit. The lackey stood over him with a smirk, "Who said you could talk to Joey? Next time I see your face I'll cut off that hair and feed it to ya!"

Yami was seeing red as he clenched his fist and took off at the guy. No one could stop him as he delivered a well-deserved kick to the guy's stomach causing him to stumble back into his fellow gang members. "Touch him again and you'll be six feet under!" He turned a murderous look toward Joey who was looking away from the scene. "Joey! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Tristan was by Yugi's side in a second helping the smaller sit up while Tea, Tomoya, and Duke stood in front of him acting as a shield to keep him out of harm's way.

"You're the worst Joey! I can't believe you!" Tea shouted at him.

However Joey had nothing to say to that and Hirutani just laughed as he slapped a hand on Joey's back. "Let's go man!" The other members quickly followed after their leader as he walked away including the one Yami had kicked just moments ago.

* * *

A few minutes later the group of friends found themselves sitting on a bench near a local playground. Tea was kneeling down in front of Yugi and trying to put some ice on his bruise, however he kept trying to move away. Yami had to sit beside him and put an arm around him to keep him still so Tea could see the damage.

"I'm okay really…." Yugi whined trying to get Tea to stop mothering him. She did stop, but handed the ice pack to Yami so he could do it instead.

Tristan who sat beside Yami on the bench sighed in frustration. "I can't believe Joey would do this…"

"Who was that guy anyway?" Duke voiced up from his spot standing in front of them.

"You see, Joey was in a gang in middle school," Tristan explained to the group. Tea and Yugi already knew about most of Joey's past, but Duke, Tomoya, and Yami did not. "There was a time when he lived to fight with gangs from other schools… Sometimes even high school gangs. He had a long record and it almost sent him to jail…. That's when he was with Hirutani."

"However all that changed with he entered high school," Yugi pointed out recalling the few times Joey teased him but never full out bullied him. "We all became friends thanks to him."

Tristan agreed with him on that, "He used to look out for the younger guys and never beat up on weaker dudes…" He then closed his eyes and bowed his head in defeat. "I can't understand it… What's his deal? Maybe he's not coming back…"

Yugi looked down as well and noticed his puzzle. He put his hands around it as he recalled the memories of Joey teasing him about it. Back in high school he was always the quiet kid with his head in a puzzle or a game. Joey was the one to help him break out of his shell and make more friends. A small warm feeling came from the puzzle as if trying to cheer Yugi up and it worked as a smile appeared on Yugi's face, "I believe in him." He looked up at each one of his friends and boyfriend before his eyes settled on Tristan. "Joey hasn't changed. He couldn't have."

It seemed the determination on Yugi's face got Tristan motivated again as the tall brown hair teen stood up, "That's right! He may not be a genius, but he wouldn't treat his old friends that way. I'm sure there's a reason for this…"

With renewed motivation the group agreed to track down Joey and bring him back with them.

* * *

The trail they found led them to an old bar in the more run down part of downtown Domino. Tristan and the others stayed hidden behind a wall across the street waiting to see if one of the members would come out. It seemed Tristan wanted answers first before they rushed in there to save Joey.

They didn't have to wait long as one of the lackeys' walked up the stairs and turned down the street with his hands in his pockets.

Tristan cracked his knuckles with a smirk, "Heh… No problem… I could take three of these punks." He waved Duke along and the two of them started down the street after the guy.

Yami, Yugi, Tea, and Tomoya waited until they were a good distance down before they started to follow.

Once they were a good block away from the bar, Tristan and Duke rushed upon the guy and grabbed him by his arms dragging him into a nearby alley. Once the others caught up they found Tristan holding the guy up off the ground by his shirt, "Alright! Why's Joey hanging with you guys? Spill it!"

The guy let out a weak chuckle, "I dunno…"

"Speak up or you're dead!" Tristan yelled at him giving him a shake.

"GGGGH! I get it…" The lackey cried out, "I'll talk…"

* * *

Meanwhile in the gang's favorite hideout Joey was lay back on one of the couches in the room with his feet propped up on the coffee table in front of him and a frown on his face. Hirutani was sitting on one of the stools at the bar facing Joey with the creepy lackey beside him since he was his right hand man with all the others hanging in varies places close by.

"Glad you joined us Joey!" Hirutani said with a grin, "Let's have fun, just like old times…"

"We'll make them recognize us all over Domino…." His right hand man said with a grin of his own before he turned to his boss. "Excuse me, Hirutani… You're out of cigarettes aren't you? Please have one of mine." He handed the pack over to his boss sucking up to him as always.

Joey sent a deathly glared toward the four eye creep which got the shorter guy's attention.

"What is it?" He sneered, "There something stuck to my face, Joey?"

Joey turned back around. He couldn't believe the predicament he got himself into when only trying to go visit his father and clear his mind. It seemed Hirutani had been tracking down and bringing in old friends to expand his turf which part of it happened to be around where his father lived. At first Joey tried to refuse the guy since he had changed his ways for the better, however…

The blond turned another glare toward the two and notice four eyes looking at him again.

"Whatcha thinking about, Joey..? You rather be playing with starhead?"

That caused more anger to make his blood boil. If only Hirutani hadn't figured out who Joey was close to and threaten his friends he wouldn't be stuck there. Joey would do anything for his friends and that even meant joining up with his old gang to keep them safe. However there were certain things he could not let pass by him.

"No way," Joey said as he stood up and turned to face the one who hit Yugi. "No way I'm letting that pass…"

Before anyone could stop him he closed the distance between the two of them and punched the four eye lackey in the face sending him flying over the bar. "No way I'm letting you get away with hitting my friend!" He shouted.

While his right hand man lay passed out on the floor, Hirutani looked at Joey with a smirk, "Joey I'm glad you're finally getting the old look back in your eyes… Too bad for you that it's aimed at us…" He then took the cigarette out of his mouth and yelled out, "Hold him down! Joey needs an attitude lesson!"

Joey did not even flinch as the others surrounded him. He stood up for his friends and that was all that mattered to him. One way or another he would find a way out of this and spend the rest of his life making it up to his best bud and the others.

* * *

**Sakura: **I always hated that creepy four eye guy and Hirutani. Thankfully I get to make them suffer in the next chapter!

**Yumi:** A little too excited about that I see…. Anyway please review!


	11. Chapter 11

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **So far two updates a week is working out really well and I'll try and continue this as best I can. Also I hope this chapter turned out alright... It's time to make Hirutani pay!

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**The Wild Gang (Part Two)**

Before anyone could stop him Joey closed the distance between the two of them and punched the four eye lackey in the face sending him flying over the bar. "No way am I letting you get away with hitting my friend!" He shouted.

While his right hand man lay passed out on the floor, Hirutani looked at Joey with a smirk, "Joey I'm glad you're finally getting the old look back in your eyes… Too bad for you that it's aimed at us…" He then took the cigarette out of his mouth and yelled out, "Hold him down! Joey needs an attitude lesson!"

Joey did not even flinch as the others surrounded him. He stood up for his friends and that was all that mattered to him. One way or another he would find a way out of this and spend the rest of his life making it up to his best bud and the others.

The glare stayed on his face as he tried to calculate the odds but they were not looking good. '_Man… Five of them… Not good…' _ He thought to himself before he had to quickly move out of the way as one of the lackeys tried to pull a fast one and punch him in the face.

When he had an opening Joey kicked that same lackey in the chin, before he turned and punched the guy behind him. While paying attention to the four in front of him he never noticed the guy behind him until it was too late. The blond received a blow to the back of the head sending him down to his knees and before he could do anything else the others were piling on top of him.

Joey laid on the ground struggling to get the five on top of him off of him. "Let me go you jerks!"

"Time for a change of scene…" Hirutani announced as he stood up, "To the torture chamber!"

* * *

Meanwhile as it started to get dark outside and the rain finally began to come down Yugi and the others were running back to the bar to try and bring Joey back with them. It wasn't long before they were back to the place and standing at the front entrance.

Tristan turned to the others, "You guys stay back. I'll go in alone."

"B-But Tristan!" Yugi tried to say, but Tristan interrupted him.

"Those guys are nothing but trouble! You can't take them on!" Tristan then gave him a smile to reassure him, "I don't want you falling to my level. Okay?"

Before they could stop him Tristan was running down the stairs however he wasn't alone as Duke followed right behind him. Tristan didn't even notice as he got to the bottom and kicked the door in. "Tristan the man, is here! Give Joey ba-"

However what greeted them was an empty bar. "Gone? Where'd they go?"

Tristan jumped and looked behind him as Duke moved out from behind him to look around the place. "Dude I thought you were going to stay up there with the others."

"I highly doubt you could stand against all of them, plus Tea would kill me if I didn't help out." Duke said as he approached the bar.

Tristan knew he was right and let it go for now because finding Joey was more important. He moved to the end of the bar prepared to go toward the office door, when he noticed the four eye lackey passed out on the floor. "Huh…?" He walked over and grabbed the guy by his shirt. "Hey wake up, you!"

Duke walked up behind him and could tell that guy wasn't going to wait up anytime soon. "No good. He's out like a light…. This place looks like they left in a hurry."

'_Joey… Where are you?'_ Tristan thought as the two of them headed back to the others.

"They weren't there!" Tea and Yugi exclaimed at the same time once they heard of their findings.

"Where could Joey be now?" Yugi wondered out loud.

Tristan sighed as the rain continued to pour around them. "I don't know…. But looking at how messed up the place was, Joey's gotta be in trouble."

"We have to find him quick!" Tomoya voiced up worried about their friend.

"Let's split up and look for him," Tea said already trying to put a plan together.

Tristan seemed reluctant at first, but he had to agree that if they split up they could cover more ground. "But come tell me first if you find him! Don't try anything on your own." He warned them wanting them all to stay safe.

In the end they split up into pairs with Tristan and Tomoya going one way together, Tea and Duke another way, leaving Yami and Yugi to head another way. They were all worried about Joey's safety and hoped to find him as soon as possible.

* * *

The warehouse Joey was in was near Domino Pier and the reason he could figure this out was because he could hear the nearby ships. Plus from his days hanging out with Hirutani this was where they bought most of their victims to beat up. His current predicament was having his arms tied above his head while they beat the crap out of him.

"I like this view Joey," Hirutani chuckled enjoying watching Joey getting the crap beat out of him.

"The view from here isn't so bad either!" Joey said with a smirk, "Look! It's red-butt boss monkey and his pack!" However the comment got him a few more punches to the gut and face.

"Joey you've been like that since middle school. Always acting like you were my equal. Still, nothing could stop us when we were together…" Hirutani decided to remind Joey, "Even some high school gangs were afraid of us. We have plenty of people working for us, but the one thing I never managed to do…" His face took on a grave stare showing no emotions, "was teach you this. I am the boss. You'll always be second in command."

Joey simply laughed at that, "Of course… That's just what a boss monkey would think." He was glad for the breather from the beating, but still he had to keep talking in order to think of a plan out of there. "Well lemme tell you I've got a good memory. I know you jerks' faces… I remember how many times each of you hit me. You know I hold a grudge. I'm going to pay you back double."

"Don't worry… This isn't even the main course. The next item on the menu will blow your mind!"

Joey's eyes widen when each of the group members pulled out a stun gun. One of the lackeys's held it right up to Joey's face with a smirk.

"And maybe your life too… So let's go…."

"These are 200,000 volt stun guns," A different lackey decided to fill Joey in for the fun of it, "When I flip the switch, the electricity comes on. And when that happens it's gonna blow your memories right out of your head…"

Before they could even get close, Joey jumped up and kicked the nearest one in the face. "You scum bag!" There was no way he was going to let them get near him with those.

While one went down there were still three more and one got lucky and was able to hit Joey in the arm with the stun gun. The only sound that filled the warehouse after that were Joey's screams.

* * *

Yugi paused in his running causing Yami to nearly run into him. He had the strangest feeling like he could tell Joey was in pain.

"What's wrong Aibou?"

"I just had the strangest feeling that something is seriously wrong with Joey," Yugi said as he turned to face his partner. The rain was coming down pretty hard now and they were both soaked.

Yami placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders to reassure him, "We will find him don't worry."

The younger put his hands on his millennium puzzle and looked down at it. '_Please… Millennium puzzle!' _He closed his eyes and prayed for the first time in the longest time. '_Tell me where Joey is…'_

While Yugi's eyes were closed he never noticed that Yami had let go of him in favor of clutching his head. A massive headache came over the taller of the two as he closed his eyes against the pain. What appeared behind his closed eyes was of a warehouse of some sort and he had no idea what this all meant. He wasn't able to think long before the vision started to blur and then darkness was all he saw.

When Yugi reopened his eyes he looked up to see Yami standing in front of him taking in his surroundings. "Yami?"

"I think I knew where Joey is…"

The news bought joy to Yugi, "Where is he?"

"I'm going to check it out by myself, you go find the others and let them know where I have gone." He said quickly telling Yugi of the place and before he could take off a small hand grabbed his wrist keeping him in place.

"You can't go alone…"

"It's too dangerous for you, so go find the others." His tone left no room for agreement and this was the second time Yami had raised his voice to Yugi and it was really confusing the other.

Since there was no changing his mind, Yugi took the millennium puzzle from around his neck and handed it to Yami. "I'll do what you say, but please take this with you." He had a feeling the puzzle would keep Yami safe and somehow it would be more useful to his partner than him at the moment.

Nothing else was said between the two as Yami took off with the puzzle around his neck and Yugi ran off to find his friends.

* * *

Rain continued to pour through the small openings in the roof of the warehouse leaving puddles all around, however the occupants inside were kept dry by standing away from the openings. Except one of the lackey's that Joey had knocked out laid passed out near a puddle.

The blond was no longer putting up a fight as he stood there twitching thanks to the electric shocks he had received. There were no emotions on his face as he simply stared at the floor not even able to speak.

"Hey Hirutani…" One of them spoke up to the boss, "He can't even talk anymore. He's just twitching, should we stop now…?"

"Do it!" Hirutani replied.

"But if we keep going he'll die…"

A glare set on their boss's face as he yelled, "DO IT!"

The thunder outside rumbled as another voice spoke up yelling, "STOP!"

The others looked Yami's way as he stepped into the warehouse with a glare of his own set on his face. '_How dare you hurt Joey… I won't let you get away with this…. Any of you!' _He thought as he walked over to the group keeping his distance, but standing near the passed out thug.

"What's with this kid?" One of them asked.

Hirutani simply chuckled, "I've seen this kid before. This little brat hangs around Joey…"

"If that's all the help he has then he's done for…." Another thug spoke up causing the others to laugh.

"Hey kid! This is our hangout…" One of the bigger thugs came running at Yami, before punching him clear across the face, "Not your playground!"

Yami went flying backwards knocking over a tire in the process. He quickly recovered from the ordeal and grabbed a nearby piece of metal and took off the millennium puzzle with his back to the others. A plan had already formed in his head and he was putting it into action without the others knowing. Once he was done he stood up.

"Well… Now it's my turn to start something!" He turned to them with a smirk on his face. "A game… I challenge you all to a game."

The unruly group which had moved closer putting them right in the middle of a rather big puddle and the fallen rain all had looks of confusion on their faces.

Yami chuckled at their looks of confusion so he decided to explain in words they would understand, "Haven't you figured it out? There's a time bomb hidden at your feet and a switch attached to that bomb. It's already ticking off the seconds."

"A bomb…?"

"What are you talking about wimp?"

The crimson eyed teen was enjoying the looks on their faces as he stepped up on the tire that had fallen with him. "Now the question is: 'Can you find the switch?'" Yami asked of them, "If you do you win. My life is yours to take. But if you can't find it there's a penalty game. The bomb will explode taking you with it."

A smirk developed on one of the thug's faces, "Hirutani… The kids bluffing!" He raised his hand with the stun gun ready to turn it on, "Let's stun him and watch him jerk around."

However realization seemed to dawn on Hirutani when he saw the stun gun and yelled, "Don't use the stun guns!" He then turned to face Yami with a smirk of his own on his face, "I get what he was saying. He's not just bluffing. We're all soaked with rain… That brat stood there just to lure us into the puddle, so we'd get water on us. He let us hit him with that in mind…"

It seemed the others just then realized that they were all wet from the rain and that there was a puddle underneath them. "He's right! We're all wet! That means…!"

"You've got it… If even one of us turns on a stun gun right now, the 200,000 volts will go from his hands to the puddle and all of us will be blown away by that kid's 'bomb'." Hirutani explained.

Yami had to admit that he was surprised that Hirutani figured that much out and he was a lot smarter than he looked. However the game was far from over.

Hirutani seemed to be living up his victory thinking he had already won the game, "We've found the switch kid! We're safe if we don't use the stun guns… So we'll use our fists instead."

Yami watched as Hirutani's lackeys's came running toward him ready to give him a so called penalty game, but there was something else they needed to know. Before one of them could hit him, he spoke up and said, "But you didn't find the switch. I'm the winner."

They all froze confused by his words so Yami clarified by saying, "And that switch is about to activate right…now."

It was then all of them heard the groans of someone nearby. When they looked down they finally noticed their fallen comrade with his arm propped up by a piece of metal and in his hands was his stun gun still turned on because his grip was still tight around the device. His hand hovered over the puddle just ready to hit the water.

"Th-The switch is his arm!" Hirutani announce in surprise.

Above the thug was Yugi's millennium puzzle tied to a chain with water dripping off of it. That water was hitting the guy's face causing him to wake up. As he started to open his eyes his arm moved causing the piece of metal to move out of place and his arm to fall toward the ground.

"Don't wake up!" Hirutani yelled but it was already too late.

"Switch on…" Yami said just as the stun gun hit the water. It wasn't long before all of them were receiving a dose of their own medicine. It wasn't until the thug realized what he was doing that he let go of the device and the current of electricity stopped that the others fell to the ground twitching. However before he could get up, Yami jumped down beside him and gave him a swift kick in the head knocking him back out.

Once that was taken care of Yami retrieved Yugi's puzzle and put it back around his neck before he hurried over to get Joey down.

* * *

It wasn't long after that, Yugi and his friends were able to locate the warehouse and hurried inside only to find Hirutani and his group passed out. Yami was nearby kneeling beside Joey who had yet to wake up. He turned to his group of friends and boyfriend, honestly not sure what to say to them.

Last thing he remembered was looking for Joey with Yugi, before he came to and was inside this warehouse with Joey beside him. It seemed his black outs were happening more and more lately and that worried him. He wondered how long he could keep this from the others. There was no telling what he was doing during these black outs. So far nothing bad had come out of it, but still…

Yami was broken out of his thoughts by his boyfriend wrapping his arms around him. "You had me so worried. I'm so glad to see your safe…" He looked down at his unconscious friend. "And you found Joey too… Is he alright?"

Yami nodded, "I'm sure he'll come around soon."

As if on cue, Joey groaned before he slowly blinked his eyes open. At first he seemed unsure of his surroundings until his eyes landed on his friends. Yugi was ecstatic to see him waking up and moved into his line of vision. "Joey, it's me!" He smiled when he saw realization come back to Joey's eyes. The smaller was so glad to finally be able to say the words he wanted to say, "Let's go back."

It took a minute for Joey to take in those words, before he was able to carefully sit up and pull the little guy into a hug. His friends had come for him like he knew they would. After all this he could go back home to where he belonged and never look back at his old life.

* * *

Night had finally set in around Domino by the time the group of friends made it back to Yami's apartment. Duke, Tea, and Tomoya stayed long enough to help Joey get settled in and make sure he didn't need to go to the hospital before they left for the night. Yugi decided to stay the night mostly to avoid questions from his mother about the nasty bruise on his cheek, plus he had been out in the rain all afternoon and if he came home soaked there was be hell to pay no matter how old he was. After changing into some spare pajamas of Yami's, Yugi settled himself next to Yami on the couch sharing a blanket with him while Joey sat on the other side of Yami with his own blanket.

Tristan returned from the kitchen with a tray of hot drinks for them all and set it on the coffee table. After he set them down he sat on the floor with his own covers. The TV was on but turned down for some small background noise.

No one had talked about what had happened they were mostly more worried about getting Joey home so he could start healing. However now that everything had settled down it seemed like the perfect time to talk about it.

"How in the world did Hirutani corner you like that?" Tristan asked since they already knew why Joey was forced to follow the thug and his followers.

Joey took the drink handed to him by Yami and took a sip before he explained, "I had to run down to the corner market for my dad and wouldn't you know Hirutani was hanging around there. He spotted me before I could walk away. If he hadn't threaten to come after you all then I probably would have just beat the shit out of him for all the crap in the past and walked away."

"I know you only want to protect us, but that still didn't give you the right to worry us to death..." Yugi playful scowled.

Joey grinned at his little buddy, "Yeah sorry about that but I hoped that if I gave you the cold shoulder you would leave it alone. I should have known you would continue to try and bring me back," He looked at each of them with a true smile," Thank you..."

"Dude no need to get all mushy," Tristan said with a smile of his own. "So what are you going to tell your father?"

"I figured I just lie to him. He probably doesn't remember much after he gets drunk. It will be easy to talk my way out of having to go visit him again for a while." Joey looked down at his drink, before he reached over to set it back on the coffee table. "I think I'm going to head on to bed. I'll need to rest up if I'm ever going to get back to classes this week."

Once their friend left the room and closed the door to his room, conversation started up again between the three. "Do you think he will be okay?" Yugi asked worried about Joey.

"He is a fighter, so he will have no trouble coming back from this…" Tristan replied before shaking his head. "However I have no idea if he will bounce back from that thing with Seto. I was surprised to hear he still had a thing for the prick… uh… I mean…."

Yami chuckled, "It's alright. My brother deserves to be called that and so much more. He may be my family but he has no right to mess with my friends. If he hadn't hurt Joey so badly, Joey may have not ended up going to see his father and running into Hirutani again." He then looked down in thought before he voiced what was on his mind, "Although the other day Seto did send me an email."

Yugi looked at Yami in surprise, "Really what about?"

"He apologized to me about the way he acted," Yami scoffed. "It was short and simple not even an apology to you or Joey. I replied back long enough to tell him to shove it and make a phone call next time he wants to apologize to not only me but to Joey and you as well."

Yugi was proud of Yami, but he worried about his relationship with Seto, "Do you think he will?"

Yami shrugged, "To me and you maybe, but probably not to Joey anytime soon. I know he likes Joey and just won't admit it." He then lowered his voice to make sure Joey couldn't hear. "Don't let Joey know but I have caught Seto keeping tabs on him a few times while I went to visit Mokuba."

Yugi and Tristan were surprised by this.

"Is this a good sign?" Tristan wondered out loud.

"Not sure, but we will have to wait and see. It's up to Joey and Seto whether they want this to work or not and put the past behind them." Yami said and he knew deep down it was the right choice to sit and wait all this out. He only hoped the outcome wouldn't become worse than it already was.

* * *

**Sakura:** This chapter was giving me so much trouble with the length, but then I got inspired and come up with that last little part to make the chapter a little bit longer. Now the real question is whether Seto and Joey can work out their problems… Sadly we won't find that out for a good while so just sit back and enjoy future chapters!

**Yumi: Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **Less reviews than the last few chapters, but at least I still have some readers! Anyway time to introduce Shadi into the story finally... Be prepared that for the next few chapters it will be the battle with Shadi, which can seem to go on forever...

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**The Man from Egypt (Part One)**

Three and a half months had passed since Joey's run in with his old gang and things were looking up for the group of friends. Over the pass months they were able to get through their classes with passing grades and make it through their finals. A wonderful winter break was much appreciated relaxation time away from professors and college work. The holidays blew by too fast however and it was not long before a new year along with a new semester was upon them. Classes had already been decided and as always the group of friends would be in the same courses.

A few changes had been happening within the group as Yugi and Yami came upon their two year anniversary of becoming a couple. However the New Year also bought a second couple, Duke and Tea, who had been going out for months now and were still becoming closer to one another. Tomoya and Tristan were still single as ever, but a certain blond had made a decision that shocked everyone. After having given it a lot of thought, Joey was willing to give Seto another try. However neither had the courage to confess to each other and Seto would always be too stubborn to apologize to Joey for the way he acted. Yami knew that with time something may happen to get the two together and he could only support Joey in his decision to wait on his idiot brother to come around.

For now all their attention would be on their new classes, along with Joey and Yugi continuing their struggle to figure out what major they wanted to pursue before their sophomore year hit.

* * *

The Kame Game Shop was completely dead for the moment that morning, but it would not be long before Solomon Mutou would appear downstairs opening it up for the day before the rush of early morning students on their way to school. He was currently reading the paper and enjoying some coffee while his daughter-in-law cooked breakfast.

A certain teen had not come downstairs yet from his bedroom and if he did not appear soon, his mother would be on his tail in about sleeping in late on school days.

However before it came to that, Yugi appeared in the kitchen stretching his arms above his head and letting a yawn out. "Morning…"

"Morning, how did you sleep?" Solomon greeted his grandson as Yugi took a seat at the table.

Yugi sighed and placed his elbow on the table before placing his chin in his hand. It was obvious he hadn't gotten much sleep at all, "Not well, it's so hard to get back into the routine of having classes after not having them for like a month." He let out another yawn, before gladly accepting the mug of coffee his grandfather had already made for him. It had already cooled down, but that was just how Yugi liked it. "If it wasn't for the fact that we can get our classes done early by having them in the morning, we probably would be taking them later in the day so we can sleep in. I know Joey would love that."

"Joey needs to continue to focus on his studies like you young man," Mrs. Mutou reminded her son as she handed him a plate with her delicious cooking on it. "If you would apply yourself more and spend less time playing games late into the night, you could get a decent night sleep."

Yugi rolled his eyes when his mother wasn't looking and she went back to clean off the stove, before looking toward his grandfather, "Anything interesting in the paper today?"

"Not much, but I did notice this on the front page," Solomon informed him as he handed the paper over to Yugi.

Yugi slide the paper closer and took a look at the front page. "Wow! They found a Pharaoh's tomb in Egypt." He exclaimed when he noticed what the main story was about. His eyes widen even more when it was a professor from their college that had discovered it. Yugi had always dreamed about being an archaeologist when he was younger and his grandfather would always tell him such amazing stories. His grandfather still was an archaeologist part-time but his game shop always came first. However Yugi wasn't sure if he could handle all the traveling and being away from both his family and Yami for long periods of time. Sure Yami would try to tag along, but when they were done with college his boyfriend would have his own career he needed to focus on.

The idea of going into a field like that when he first applied to college had been at the back of his mind, but Yugi wanted to wait until the end of his freshman year before he decided fully. Sadly nothing had inspired him enough to make him change his mind and besides the fact that he may be away from his loved ones for long periods of time, he also started to think about his dueling career. It had just started to take off and as much as he loved archaeology he loved games more. The decision was almost too great for Yugi to figure out on his own.

"You know one of the discoverers is a good friend of mine, I could give him a call and see if he can get us into see the exhibit." Solomon suggested after he saw Yugi's face. "It will be opening up here in Domino within the week."

Yugi was quick to agree to the idea and hoped that possible seeing the exhibit and meeting the professor would give him the push in the right direction. "I'll tell the others about it today and see if they would like to go." He said to his grandfather before he put the paper away in favor of eating his breakfast. The bus would be at the bus stop before long and Yugi needed to get going if he was going to catch it in time.

* * *

The young Mutou waited until his gang of friends met for lunch before he decided to tell them the news. He was pretty sure none of them knew about the exhibit unless they had checked their campus email account that morning or read the local paper. Out of all their friends the only one who would think to check his email would be his own boyfriend and as far as he knew Duke was the only one who would read the morning paper.

The only one not with them was Tristan, but if they all decided to go Joey or Yami could tell him about their plans. He just hoped everyone would want to go with him and his grandfather that weekend.

"An Egyptian exhibit…?" Joey questioned once Yugi explained his exciting news.

Yugi nodded, "Yeah and it opens this week at the Domino City museum."

"That sounds interesting! We should go," Tea said with a smile knowing Yugi was probably the most excited out of all of them. She would always be supportive of her friends and willing to try new things.

"The college professor who discovered the Pharaoh's tomb is my grandpa's friend, professor Yoshimori. Grandpa is going to give him a call and see if he can get us in this weekend for free." Yugi went on to explain more. The exhibit was new to Domino and whenever some new exhibit came to their small city everyone wanted to check it out. Plus museum tickets could be high and Yugi was pretty sure his grandpa's friend could get them in for free.

"I read something about him in the campus paper this morning," Duke said as he fished around in his bag for the paper. The local Domino City paper only gave a few details about the exhibit and the professor, but the campus paper had a little more information since it was about a professor on their campus.

"Didn't they find a mummy?" Tomoya chimed in. He took the offered paper once Duke found it to see if what he heard had been true.

"Yerk! A mummy…?!" Joey exclaimed with a look of fear in his eyes, "I don't wanna get cursed!"

"Egypt is such a mystical place," Tea said as she looked toward Yugi completely ignoring Joey, "That's where your puzzle's from isn't it?"

Yugi reached down to hold his puzzle close with a smile. "Yup! My good ol' Millennium puzzle!"

Tea then got a smirk on her face deciding it would be fun to mess with Joey given his fear of being cursed, "Oh that's right... Didn't your grandpa say archaeologists who found it all died mysterious deaths..."

"No way!" Joey shouted and looked toward Yugi, "Yugi, are you alright? You aren't cursed are you?!"

"Of course I'm not cursed!" Yugi told Joey before he turned and hissed to Tea, "Don't scare him Tea..."

Yami looked down at the item Yugi always wore about his neck. Sadly Yami had to admit that strange things had been happening around him since Yugi and he put the final piece in the puzzle. Yugi seemed perfectly fine, but Yami started to notice times when he lost his memory that never happened before. For the past three months nothing had happened but all those other times still worried him. If he told anyone including his boyfriend they would probably think it was creepy and leave him. Yami had a good thing going and he wasn't about to lose it to some black outs. He just hoped those episodes were over with.

He pulled himself from getting lost in thought and came back just in time to hear the others making plans to meet on Sunday to go to the museum around one if the professor could get them in to see the exhibit.

Yugi turned to Yami with a smile, "Sound good?"

Yami smiled back and nodded, "Sure does, it will be nice to see the exhibit."

The smaller was gleaming in joy, "I love this stuff! I can't wait!"

* * *

Sunday afternoon was a sunny one, but was also slightly cold still due to the winter weather that had yet to leave. As agreed everyone meet outside the museum about thirty minutes before one and it was even better that everyone could be there including Tristan. Groups of people could be seen going in and out of the museum, but they still had to wait for the professor to come meet them.

"My friend was supposed to meet us here…" Solomon stated as he looked around.

Just as Solomon said those words everyone heard an unfamiliar voice yell, "Mutou!"

Solomon turned around in time to see his friend walking up to him with another shorter gentleman beside him. "It's been a while, good to see you," The professor said as he shook hands with Solomon.

"Thank you for inviting us to your show," Solomon thanked his friends before he introduced the professor to everyone, "This is professor Yoshimori, he works in the archaeology department at your university."

The professor bowed his head slightly, "Pleased to meet you."

Solomon then noticed the quiet man beside his friend, "Who's this…?"

Yoshimori moved back slightly to present the shorter man beside him, "Ah yes! This is the owner of the museum. He provided the grant for the excavation and is sponsoring this exhibit."

"Kanekura's the name, welcome to my museum." The owner introduced himself with a welcomed greeting. He then turned to Yoshimori and lean up to whisper something in his ear.

Yoshimori nodded, before he looked toward Solomon, "Mutou… you told me that your grandson solved the millennium puzzle…"

"I did tell you that didn't I…" Solomon did recall the letters he sent his friend a few months back.

"So you're Yugi," Yoshimori immediately recognized the younger Mutou who had said puzzle around his neck.

"That's it! The legendary millennium puzzle!" Kanekura exclaimed pretty much drooling over it. "You must show it to me."

Yugi couldn't see the harm in someone looking at it, so he carefully took it from around his neck and passed it to the man. Both he and Yami kept a close eye on the museum owner as he held it up to look at it more closely.

"T…This is wonderful! Such an important piece of Pharaonic history… and it's hanging around your neck!"

Yoshimori decided to elaborate since they all seemed lost by Kanekura's excitement over the puzzle. "Kanekura makes his living in the art business. He has an eye for antiquities."

Yugi was surprised to hear this. He had no idea his puzzle was valuable. The smaller simply thought the puzzle was an artifact from Egypt that gave many before him trouble, because it seemed unsolvable.

Attention was bought back to Kanekura as he excitedly asked, "Yugi, I beg you. People have got to see this! Let me display it at the show." He bowed his head, "Please!"

At first Yugi wasn't sure what to do, he turned to look up at Yami, "What should I do? I can't let go of it for too long…." He was sure some people might enjoy seeing it, but it was his after all and not a permanent museum piece.

Yami placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders in comfort. "How about just for one day?" He had this horrible gut feeling seeing the puzzle in someone else's hands and not his aibou's, but it was an important part of Egyptian history and it wouldn't hurt for it to be on display for a day.

Yugi agreed and Kanekura was even more excited to hear that. The group never noticed the look in the greedy man's eyes as they all headed into the museum together.

* * *

The exhibit was huge and took up one whole section of the museum. Artifacts of all kinds were behind display cases so they would not be touched by anyone. A few statues were left out in the open, but were roped off to keep the viewers at a distance.

"Wow!" Joey exclaimed as they got a firsthand look at it all. "So all this belongs to the person who dug it up?"

Yoshimori chuckled, "Wouldn't that be nice. Until 1921, the excavator could keep up to half of the artifacts he found, but now they belong to the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. It's cultural property, illegal to sell, because it's so precious. The man who discovered the famous treasure of Tutankhamen didn't get to keep one piece of the artifacts he found."

Yugi nodded his head taking in all the information, "I see… I thought archaeologists were treasure hunters with dreams of hitting it big…"

"No that's just in the movies. Archaeology is one of the worst paid professions." Yoshimori informed him as the others looked around. "But when after months and years of searching, you open the door to a piece of history that no one has seen before, there's an excitement that you can't begin to describe. That's what I'm in it for."

There was a brief pause in their conversation as Kanekura made himself known again by saying, "Excuse me for a minute, everyone. I'm going to put the millennium puzzle on display. Take your time… Enjoy yourselves." He then walked off without another word leaving them to explore the place with Yoshimori as their guide.

As they continued to explore the exhibit Yugi looked down and couldn't believe how lost he felt without the puzzle. To make up for it he had taken to holding Yami's hand for the last few minutes they had been walking around so that his worry would not overwhelm him.

"We should take a picture in front of the puzzle later," Yami told him to which Yugi nodded.

On Yugi's other side was the professor who gave the boy an apologetic smile, "Sorry Yugi, I know you didn't want to lend it to him."

"That's all right, it's only for one day." Yugi reassured them he was fine even if he felt weird.

"This expedition wouldn't have happened without Kanekura…" Yoshimori went on to explain to them, "I'm not in a position to complain, but he can be somewhat self-centered…."

Their conversation was interrupted once again when Tea said, "Wow look! It's so pretty!" Everyone turned to see she was looking at a piece of papyrus on display that told about something in Egyptian.

Yoshimori took the time to explain the piece to her, "This is a scene drawn on papyrus, showing 'weighing of the heart'… The judgment of the dead. The 'judge' is the god Osiris. That's Anubis on the left. He weighs the deeds of the dead man on a scale. If the scale falls on the side of good deeds, they pass on into the afterlife… But if the scale falls on the side of bad deeds, they are fed to Ammit, 'The Devourer!'"

"He's an Egyptian Enma." Yami pointed out from what he knew about Japanese mythology.

Yoshimori agreed and pointed them in a new direction. "And over here we have the mummy."

Joey cringed at that while Tristan glared at him, "You scared Joey? How uncool."

The others laughed over that as they all followed the professor toward the mummy.

* * *

Just the sight of the mummy flipped Joey out as he kept his distance from the thing, "Let's go! If we keep staring we're gonna be cursed."

Yoshimori placed a comforting hand on Joey's shoulder to calm the blond down. "There's no such thing as curses." However Joey did not look like he would believe anyone at that moment.

It wasn't but a few minutes of looking at the mummy that the others walked around to see what else was in that area, however Yugi stayed near the display of the mummy reading about who he was when he was pharaoh on the information card. The Egyptian's had such a rich culture and lived fantasizing lives in the past, that Yugi couldn't get enough of looking at all there was to learn there.

While he was reading, he felt a presence beside him and looked up to see an Egyptian looking man in the flesh. He was wearing robes and a turban on top his head. Around his neck was a rather large key and in his hands was a scale. What surprised Yugi the most was the tears he saw running from the man's eyes and down his cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" Yugi decided to ask.

The Egyptian looked down at Yugi for a second before looking back at the mummy, "These tears are not mine… This shriveled form, he has become a doll of dust, but still he is the eternal pharaoh. His spirit lives on with his name. Even the eternal sleep is denied him. The cry of his soul becomes tears and flows down my cheeks…."

Those words just confused Yugi even more, but he didn't have time to process what had been said fully as the Egyptian smiled down at him and patted his head.

"You're a nice little boy…"

As he walked away Yugi glared at his retreating back with a growl, "Little boy! I'm in college…" He turned and went over to his boyfriend, "Hey Yami, I saw this Egyptian guy…"

Yami looked in the direction Yugi had pointed, but saw no one. "Huh… I don't see anyone…"

"Hey look! Yugi's puzzle is on display!" Joey shouted to his friends who all hurried over to see also, which completely distracted Yugi from his encounter with the Egyptian.

As they got closer they found Kanekura in front of the display talking with another gentleman, but once the owner saw them he and the man with him walked away to allow them to see the puzzle. It had been placed neatly on a pillow and gleamed brightly from the lights in the display case.

"Let's take a picture!" Tea announced, so everyone except her got situated in front of the display case as she got her camera out. "Look this way and say Cheese," She told them once she was ready. They took a few pictures to remember the day by and Tea even got a picture of just Yugi and Yami in front of it that she would print off later for them.

* * *

After a fun filled day at the museum the rather large group walked outside into the fresh air. They had spent a good few hours looking throughout the whole museum at not only the Egyptian exhibit, but the rest of the exhibits a well while they were there. Yugi snuggled up against his boyfriend as they stopped at the top of the stairs that lead down toward the sidewalk and street.

Solomon turned to his friend, "Thank you so much for today."

"It was my pleasure. Why don't you come by my lab sometime and I'll show you even more." Yoshimori invited the older Mutou who nodded in agreement. The professor waved to the rest of the group with a smile. "Well I have to get back to the university…"

The group of friends said goodbye to the professor and watched him walk away, before Tea turned to them all. "What do you want to do now?" She asked of them.

"I'll wait here until the museum closes," Yugi told them, "I want my puzzle back before I go home."

Yami agreed to stay with Yugi while the other decided split off and do their own thing for the rest of the day. Solomon would have stayed with the two but he had to get back home to the shop. So that left Yugi and Yami to sit outside the museum and wait for closing which was only a thirty more minute wait.

They found a nice spot in the sun light that would keep the chill off of them. Yami kept an eye on his watch so they could go retrieve the puzzle five minutes before the museum was to close.

"Do you think I could make a career like the professor?" Yugi asked out of the blue as he stared out at the street.

Yami looked down at his partner with a raise eyebrow. "Why wouldn't you be able to?"

Yugi shrugged, "I'm not strong or anything like that, plus I would have to be away from home for long periods of time. Grandpa isn't as young as he used to be and I would hate for something to happen to him while I'm off making a name for myself." He looked up at Yami, "Also we don't know where your career may take you. Could we handle a long distance relationship?"

The chuckle that escaped Yami's lips couldn't be helped as he wrapped an arm around Yugi's shoulders and kissed his spiky head. "I can see you have been thinking about this a lot. I would like to think that we would be together for the rest of our lives, but what makes you think we wouldn't be able to handle a long distance relationship?"

"Well I think no one really knows if they can handle being apart until it happens, but I don't want a career that is going to ruin what we have going." Yugi said with worry in his eyes. "I want us both to be happy, but together at the same time."

"I will be happy with whatever choice you make, just like you have supported me in my choice to design games," Yami informed him, "Don't decide not to be an archaeologist because you're scared of losing me. Honestly if we are meant to be, we will learn to make it work. It's your choice on whatever you wish to do with your life."

Yugi nodded, "I know and maybe I can talk to professor Yoshimori more about what it would take. I have a lot of pros and cons to weight in before I make a choice. You never know just because I'm fascinated by archaeology doesn't mean it's the career for me."

Yami couldn't agree more with him. He had felt the same way when he decided to try and major in game design. His career would probably cause him to work long hours, plus he had to worry about if his brother would ever treat him serious enough to produce the games or if he would have to try and start his own company. There was a lot to think about in the line of work he was going to go into however above all it was something he was going to enjoy for the rest of his life.

Looking down at his watch again Yami noticed time seemed to have flown by them and they only had five minutes before the museum was to close. "Time to get your puzzle back," He told his lover as he stood up.

Yugi wasn't far behind him as they hurried into the museum to find Kanekura and get the puzzle back.

* * *

"Geez this museum is a maze," Yami grumbled to himself as he looked around for Mr. Kanekura. Both he and Yugi had checked the display to find that the puzzle was no longer there. They had a feeling Mr. Kanekura had it but they had no idea where he would be, so they decided to split up and search.

The shorter teen stopped in his tracks when he noticed an Egyptian male in robes and a turban walking his way. He wondered if this was the man Yugi had talked about seeing earlier that day. If so he could possible work here or have some direction to point Yami in the right path into finding Mr. Kanekura.

"Excuse me… have you see Mr. Kanekura? He promised to return a puzzle… It's shaped like this." Yami explained to him making the shape with his fingers to get his point across.

A shocked expression came over the Egyptian's face as he thought, '_I…Impossible… Not this boy…!'_

Yami waited on a response from the man, but wasn't getting one. He sighed in defeat. "I guess you don't know after all…"

The Egyptian continued to stare at the boy in front of him thinking, '_The one who solves the millennium puzzle gains great power… The same power as my bloodline… I have to make sure. I must know if this boy has the power. I will use the millennium key to look into the room of his soul!'_

Yami was starting to feel a little uncomfortable by the way the guy was staring at him, "Ummm… Why are you looking at me like that?"

The only response Yami got out of the man this time was him reaching down to lift the large key that hung around his neck. Before Yami could do anything the key was connected with his forehead…

* * *

The Egyptian took in his surroundings only to find himself in a hallway faced with two rooms. "Th…This boy has two rooms in his soul!" He exclaimed in shock as he walked forward to examine them both. One of the doors was open and free for anyone to look into while the other door was closed off with the same eye that was on the millennium puzzle on the front of the steel door. "One door to one room is open… I can see inside… It's scattered with games of all kinds, but it is pure. No thoughts of darkness…"

Inside were games of all kinds scattered about the floor, but that wasn't the only thing in the room. At the back of the small room were two rather large photos on the walls. One held a younger looking Yami with a younger looking Seto beside him. They were both smiling and Seto had an arm around his smaller twin brother. Behind the two were two figures, one a man and the other a woman, but their faces were blurred out by shadows and in the woman's arms was the baby of the family Mokuba. The other photo was of a much older Yami and his arms around his lover, Yugi, who was smiling up at him. These were the people most important to him. However a surprise was that covering the rest of the walls were Egyptian hieroglyphs that told a story of some kind that this boy held close, but wanted to keep covered up from everyone else so it was written in a foreign language.

The Egyptian turned away from that door to the closed one, "And the other door…"

Slowly the door started to open on its own and as light drifted in revealed a figure which looked completely identical to the boy he had just met minus slightly darker skin and eyes. The figure developed a smirk on his face as he said, "Well… A visitor in my room… Come in, if you dare. A game awaits you."

* * *

**Sakura: **The other Yami is here! Well he has always been here, but now it is seen that Yami has a spirit attached to him. I didn't realize how long this chapter was going to be until I finished it. I have a feeling the next chapter may not be as long, but I will try to keep them not too short.

**Yumi: Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **It's time to see how Shadi handles meeting Yami's other half.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**The Man from Egypt (Part Two)**

The Egyptian took in his surroundings only to find himself in a hallway faced with two rooms. "Th…This boy has two rooms in his soul!" He exclaimed in shock as he walked forward to examine them both. One of the doors was open and free for anyone to look into while the other door was closed off with the same eye that was on the millennium puzzle on the front of the steel door. "One door to one room is open… I can see inside… It's scattered with games of all kinds, but it is pure. No thoughts of darkness…"

The Egyptian turned away from that door to the closed one, "And the other door…"

Slowly the door started to open on its own and as light drifted in revealed a figure which looked completely identical to the boy he had just met minus slightly darker skin and eyes. The figure developed a smirk on his face as he said, "Well… A visitor in my room… Come in, if you dare. A game awaits you."

The Egyptian calmly stepped into the chambers of the unknown being. The other in front of him continued to wear the same smirk watching every move he made.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid?" He asked with every bit of courage welcoming the unknown visitor, "Show some courage!"

The other took a few more steps in, but still kept his distance from the strange male. _'I have visited rooms of many peoples' souls in the past… they may have different decorations and furnishings, but always there is only one room…'_ The Egyptian thought to himself without letting his guard down, '_but… what is this other room in this boy's soul… it is dark and cold…'_

As if sensing his thoughts the room lit up partly to reveal some of the room. Eyes widen on the Egyptian when he realized the room he was in was like a tomb of a pharaoh in ancient Egypt. The stone work, carvings and paintings on the walls were the same as they would be in the ancient past.

"I don't know what power you used to find this place…" The other Yami spoke up having lost his smirk, "But you better explain why you're here…"

The two leveled each other in a staring contest before the intruder decided to answer, "From your perspective I am an unwanted guest... Answering that question is the least I can do." Silence was all he got from the other so he continued, "I came to discover the secret of the power of your millennium puzzle." He spoke as if it was Yami he was talking to and not the other spirit in the boy's soul.

The other Yami let no emotions cross his face as he took in this information. "So you know of the existence of the millennium puzzle..." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes I know. Also that it is one of the millennium items..." The Egyptian paused for just a second before going into his long tale about the items, "The story of the millennium items has been passed down from ancient Egypt... three thousand years ago in the Valley of the Kings. They were made 'to punish thieves who would defile the tombs of the pharaohs and steal their treasures' by the magicians who served the ancient pharaohs. So it is written in the pert em hru..."

"So you came here with a millennium item...?" The other Yami questioned as it was obvious from the large key he wore around his neck that it was no ordinary key.

The Egyptian agreed with him. "The power of the millennium key… This key opens the door to one's soul... In room of the soul, one discovers everything about a person. Who they are, what they love, what they fear... even what they themselves do not know." He then went on to explain about his second item even though it was no longer with him at that moment. "And one more: The millennium scales. They weigh the sins of a person on trial. These are the two that I possess. However even I don't know the power of the millennium puzzle. I don't know what power is bestowed upon the person who completes it, because it has never been solved."

"And so to find out...You entered my soul..."

"If I can see a person's 'room'...I can see what kind of power they possess. That is what I came to discover." The Egyptian told him, before stating his true reason for being there, "And if that power is needed. I will draw it into my bloodline."

The other Yami looked at him like he was crazy, before his well-known smirk developed back on his face. "This power you speak of does rest in my room. However... I can't let you see it that easily. You know the routine." He said before stating his famous line. "This is a game! A shadow game!"

The Egyptian did not seemed fazed by those words as others before him have so the other Yami continued, "The rules of the game are simple. Somewhere within this soul is my true room... If you can find it, then you'll find what you seek."

The Egyptian chuckled at that, "I forgot to tell you about one other power I have. When I enter the room of someone's soul, I can 'redecorate' and control that person at will. I can even destroy their personality." He was prepared for anything the other Yami could throw at him, "I accept your game and I will find the true room of your soul."

It was the other Yami's turn to laugh, "Well... Don't think it's that easy... This game is more dangerous than you know!" He snapped his fingers revealing the rest of his soul room to the intruder.

A look of shock took over the Egyptian's face as he took in the rest of the room. _'Is this...A maze?'_ He thought to himself as he took in the endless stair cases and countless doors before him. _'This boy's room is truly... A labyrinth of the soul!'_

"Game Start!" The other Yami exclaimed proud to have cause worry to appear in the other's eyes. The other was like a statue unable to take it all in to even move. "Well? What's wrong? The game won't start until you take the first step." He stated as he lean against a nearby wall.

_'There...and over there... countless doors as far as the eye can see…_' The outsider was unsure where to even begin his search, _'But only one leads to the true room.'_ He looked beside him and noticed a door near him so he decided to start there. He walked over to it and put his hand on the handle. '_I'll have to open all the doors one by one..._' He turned the handle and pulled it open slowly peeking in to see if there was anything there.

A large stone weight came crashing down throwing him back away from the room and if he had taken one step in he would have died in that boy's soul room. _'A trap!'_ His first thought was as he picked himself up off the ground.

"What's wrong?" The other Yami taunted from his spot. "Do you give up?"

The Egyptian leveled him with a glare, but the other Yami was unfazed, "At this rate, you might get yourself in trouble." As if a ghost the other Yami started to disappear into the wall. "Good luck... I'll be waiting in the room..."

Once the other was gone the intruder stood to his full height and wiped the sweat from his brow. With the idea of traps behind every door, he proceeded with caution through the maze to find the true room.

* * *

Time seemed endless as the Egyptian went from door to door trying to find the true room. He avoided every trap behind each door, but none of them had led him in the right direction. Some even led him to other doors and if he did not watch himself he would be lost in the maze of the boy's soul forever.

"Which door could it be?" He said to himself, "This boy's soul is so tightly closed against strangers... It seeks to confuse me." However his determination outweighed his will to give up. "But I have to know! I must know the secret of the millennium puzzle!"

He came upon another door and stood in front of it feeling as if this might be the door. Carefully he turned the handle and opened it prepared for anything to try to kill him. However when the door was opened fully he found the other Yami sitting on a throne as if he were a proud pharaoh himself.

No words were said as he simply sat there with that smirk on his face.

_'Have I finally made it to the true room?_' The Egyptian slowly started to walk into the room thinking this was it, but something suddenly felt wrong.

The floor began to crumble out from under him causing him to lose his balance. His hand reached out on reflex to grab the edge so that he would not fall into the seemingly endless abyss. _'If I fall into the darkness... I'll be lost in the boy's soul forever!'_ This was his only worry at the moment, but there was no way for him to pull himself up.

Footsteps bought him out of his thoughts in time to look up and see the other Yami standing near him. "Shall I push you in...?" The other Yami questioned with his arms crossed. As if by a second thought instead of trying to push him in, he kneeled down and reached out a hand to the other.

The other developed a look of confusion not sure if he could trust the hand or not.

"It's all right. My hand isn't a trap..." The other Yami tried to reassure him.

The Egyptian had no other choice so he reached up with his other hand and grabbed on to the helping hand. Before long he was back on solid ground away from his appending doom.

"I had never imagined that you would save me... If indeed it is the same you..." The Egyptian bowed his head to the other, "I am in your debt."

"I don't like your hobby of peeking into people's souls. You better leave right now." The other Yami warned hoping the other would take his advice.

The intruder did heed his words as he turned to leave. "So I have lost the game..."

"No..." The other Yami replied, "This is just the beginning."

"Yes... You're right..." The Egyptian agreed as he walked to the new door that had appeared. It had the same eye as before on the front letting him know that it was the exit to the boy's soul room. "Farewell..."

* * *

Yami blinked his eyes a few times not sure at what had just happened and took notice that the Egyptian from before was now kneeling in front of him seeming to try to caught his breathe.

"Are you alright?"

At first the other just stayed like that with his head bow as if in deep thought which caused Yami to wonder if he should get some help for the guy.

"Are you okay?" Yami tried to ask again, "You look pale..."

Finally the other lifted his head, "Yes... I'm alright..." He carefully stood back to his full height. "You are a strange boy..."

Yami's eyebrows knitted together at the strange boy comment.

"Oh... I almost forgot..." The other reached into his pocket of his robes, "If I'm not mistaken, this is yours..."

To Yami's surprise he presented the millennium puzzle to Yami, who quickly took it into his hands. He was relieved to see it and it would make his partner that much more happy. "Thank you!"

"You don't need to thank me. I am already in your debt..."

Yami was confused by that statement. He had only just met the guy there was no way he had done anything for him. "Debt? Did I loan you something?"

"It was the other you."

Yami couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips. "Other me?" The small laugh turned into full blow laughter. He couldn't believe this strange guy thought there was two of him. There would be if his brother looked like him but that wasn't the case. Once he calmed himself down he continued what he was going to say, "No way! I'm me! I'm the only me there is."

"Yami!"

The said person turned to see Yugi running up to him. He smiled at his lover and presented him with the puzzle when Yugi was close enough. Yugi smiled brightly as Yami put the puzzle back around his neck where it belonged.

"I'm so happy you were able to find it. I couldn't find Mr. Kanekura anywhere." Yugi wrapped his hands protectively around the puzzle. "How did you find it?"

Yami turned partly back toward the Egyptian, "He had it with him. Mr. Kanekura must have sent him to give us the puzzle back."

Yugi's eyes widen when he realized it was the Egyptian from before, but then smiled up at him and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you for returning it."

The Egyptian appeared shocked that Yami had handed the puzzle over to Yugi with no problems at all. "You are the owner of the puzzle?"

Yugi nodded, "Yes, sorry if Mr. Kanekura wasn't clear on what I looked like. Me and Yami look somewhat similar with our hairstyle."

"What's your name?" He asked the two but more to Yami.

Yugi figured he just wanted to verify that he had the right people in front of him to tell Mr. Kanekura. "I'm Yugi and this is my boyfriend Yami."

_'One wields the millennium puzzle while two sides exist in the other, but he has not realized it yet. When they join, the true power of the millennium puzzle will be awakened.'_ The Egyptian thought to himself before he moved to walk passed them, "Yami... There is something you must do... You must discover your other self."

Both Yami and Yugi had a look of confusion on their faces as they looked back at the other.

"And Yugi must solve the riddle of the true power of the millennium puzzle... The puzzle that was hidden for three thousand years! That is the destiny of the one who solves the puzzle. That is their duty."

_'My other self?'_ Yami thought just as Yugi was thinking _'The true power of the millennium puzzle?'_

"My name is Shadi." Shadi informed them as he walked away, "There is one more person I must place on trial... One more man who defiled the territory of the gods, the Valley of the Kings..."

The two watched the strange man leave without another word. It left the two teens wondering what in the world had just happened.

* * *

**Sakura: **Yeah I figured this would be one of the shorter chapters of this story, but that's okay. It's just a little filler chapter for what is to come in the next few chapters! Personally the chapters with Shadi are a little boring, but once I get pass him we can get to the more fun chapters!

**Yumi: Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Small Note**

**Sakura: **Now it's time to see what kind of trouble Shadi is going to cause for our favorite couple.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**The Other Criminal **

The encounter with Shadi left Yami and Yugi feeling slightly off for reasons unknown. Nothing was said between the lovers as they made their way home and decided to call it a night at Yugi's place. Yugi's mother was out of town with a friend so it would only be Yugi, Yami, and Grandpa who was less strict about Yami being over. They shared a quick supper with the elder Mutou continuing their silence about what happened until they were in the privacy of Yugi's room.

Later when the meal was done and dishes were clean the two hurried up to Yugi's room. A minute later Yugi sat at his desk with the millennium puzzle in hand looking at it closely like all the answers for what happened would be written on it. Yami was laid out on Yugi's bed staring up at the ceiling.

"He said something about 'another me'..." Yami mumbled to himself but Yugi could hear it, "And some 'secret to the millennium puzzle'..."

"I wonder what he meant..." Yugi turned to look at Yami. "I mean there is only one you. Why would there be two of you?"

Yami shrugged, "Maybe he was just mental," The crimson eyed teen was still gonna kept quiet about his black outs and memory loss from Yugi, but what Shadi said caused questions to circle around in his mind. If there was another him then that would explain the moments of memory loss, but it did not explain why this was happening. The last thing he wanted to do was trust a complete stranger and if he tried to seek help from a doctor they might commit him to a mental institution.

"And his last words 'I must place on trial one more man who defied the Valley of the Kings...'" Yugi continued to wonder out loud wishing the answer would just come to them.

After a moment of silence Yami sat up and mess up his hair in frustration. "It makes my head spin! We gonna stop thinking about it."

Before Yugi could say anything about that, Grandpa came barging into their room saying, "Yugi, this is terrible! Come look at the news!"

Both Yugi and Yami hurried after Solomon confused about what was going on.

* * *

"_Mr. Kanekura, the owner of the museum, was found dead in his office. The cause of death appeared to be a heart attack, induced by shock but according to the coroner there were reasons that it couldn't have been a natural death. This has people wondering 'Is this the curse of the Pharaoh's tomb?'..."_ The reporter who stood in front of the museum reported into the camera with cop cars all in the back ground.

Solomon sighed, "It's depressing to think someone we just met is dead..."

All three were sat around the table watching the news and it seemed too real to be true. Yugi turned to his grandfather, "Do curses really exist...?"

"Well..." Solomon started before he went into a long tale. "When Tutankhamen's tomb was opened in 1923, there were the same kinds of rumors... Some of the discoverers died mysterious deaths. But now it's thought that the 'mummy's curse' was just a sensation stirred up by the media of the time. No one knows the truth, but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried because there was one more man involved in the excavation..."

"Professor Yoshimori!" Yami exclaimed when he realized who Solomon was talking about and the thought '_One more man..._' entered his head. Could this have been what Shadi was talking about?

"Anyway Professor Yoshimori would be the last person to believe in curses. But still, one of the people he worked with is dead. It must be hard for him." Solomon said to them, "So I'm going to go his lab at the University to try and cheer him up."

"Grandpa..." Yugi spoke up getting their attention. "Can I come too?"

"Of course you can. I'm sure he'd like that." The elder Mutou informed his grandson.

Since Yugi was tagging along Yami found no reason not to join them. He wasn't sure why Yugi wanted to go along with his grandfather other than to check on the professor, but part of him thought that maybe Yugi was wondering about what Shadi had meant since he heard it too. If something was going to happen to the Professor than they had to stop it.

* * *

The sun had already set by the time the Mutous and Yami left the Kame Game Shop and began their walk to the University. It honestly wasn't that far, but Yugi took the bus to make the trip that much quicker in the mornings. Just as they were about to cross the street to the next block, they heard a shout behind them and turned to see Joey pull up in his truck. The blond got out and he was not alone. Duke and Tristan climbed out as well.

"Yo Yugi!" Joey called as he caught up to them. "We just saw the news about Kanekura."

"We just met the guy it's such a shock." Duke said with a shake of his head. The three had been hanging out back at the apartment when the news came on with the story. The three immediately decided to head over to Yugi's place to see if they had heard the story.

"We were coming to check to see if you heard the news and go visit the professor. I bet he knows the details of the case." Joey stated then finished with, "I just know there's a curse."

Duke and Tristan bowed their head in shame of knowing the blond beside them while Solomon chuckled. The elder saw no reason for them not to all go together. "Shall we get going then?" He suggested.

Just the idea of them going did not sit well with Yami however before he could say something someone else spoke up.

"Hey guys, I think it would be better if you didn't go..." Yugi said causing looks of confusion on the others faces, "I just get this feeling."

"We're all right Yugi, you're worried that Joey's afraid of the curse aren't you?" Duke said teasing the idiot beside him.

Joey glared at Duke before turning a grin to Yugi to show he was alright. "Yeah I'm not really scared. Professor Yoshimori showed us around the museum. We're worried about him just like you. He seems like a good guy."

"Y-Yeah... You're right!" Yugi's attitude changed just like that back to his cheerful self. "I'm sorry for acting weird..."

When all that was settled, they all somehow piled into Joey's truck and headed to the University. However during the drive Yami had a sinking feeling something big was about to happen.

* * *

Meanwhile in Professor Yoshimori's office at the University he was sitting at his desk and if anyone walked in it may have looked like he was praying, but in truth the professor was in deep thought. His office was full of artifacts most of them fakes, along with maps of Egypt and shelves with hundreds of books.

'_Impossible… There's no such thing as a curse…'_ He tried to reassure himself. Memories of the time he spent in Egypt with Mr. Kanekura plagued his mind. He could not believe the phone call he received about the man being dead. The discovery they had made was one for the history books and now the man was gone from this world just like that.

The professor let out a sigh of frustration, before he heard a noise behind him. He turned around quickly only to see no one or thing behind him. The room was still void of life and since the University was closed for the night no one should be there but cleaning staff if they were even still there.

"I'm hearing things…" He told himself as he turned back around. "A lot has happened today. I must be tired..." Then he remembered the call he received not to long ago from his good friend Solomon, "Mutou will be bringing his grandson soon… I've never needed a friend as much as I do today…"

Unaware of the person who seemed to appear out of the shadows, Professor Yoshimori never turned to see Shadi step up behind him. '_Criminal who defiled the territory of the gods, who profaned the Valley of the Kings by Anubis's will I now, put you on trial.'_ The Egyptian thought to himself as he raised his millennium key up, '_Before you die, I will unlock the room of your soul with the power of my millennium key. Gods willing, I will find some shed of guilt…'_

Once the Key connected with the back of Yoshimori's head, Shadi's soul was transported into the soul room of the Professor. Inside he found artifacts, books, and paintings from Egypt. "The first thing that meets the eye is the shelves full of books…All of them about archaeology" Shadi said taking in the shelves that covered every wall, "And artifacts from ruins… His heart is cluttered with his obsession with the past."

Shadi took a set forward and found a photo sitting on one of the shorter shelves and picked it up. The photo was of a younger Yoshimori with a woman and a child. "In one corner covered with dust, a picture of his family. He has neglected them because of his obsession… He regrets it, but it's too late now."

The photo was set down and then Shadi took in how dark the room looked, "The darkness of the room is proof of the anxiety and fear he is feeling. The museum owner's death must be the cause…" Then out of the corner of his eye he noticed a ray of light in one corner. "In the darkness, a glimmer of light, this is the light of hope."

There was a moment of pause, before Shadi realized why the professor had hope. "I see… This man is waiting for his friends… That calms his heart and gives him a ray of hope…" Shadi reached out a hand to touch the light, "Who is he awaiting…?"

Surprise overtook Shadi's face in a split second when he saw a vision of Yugi and Yami with others driving toward the University. They were the ones coming to see the professor. "Two of his friends coming to visit are the boy who solved the millennium puzzle and the boy with the other self. This has become interesting... Before I kill him, I may be able to use this man to draw out Yami's hidden power."

A look of determination came over Shadi's face, "I will redecorate the room of the Professor's soul and turn him into my puppet!" He grabbed his key in his hands and closed his eyes. "Marionette Design!"

There was a moment when nothing seemed to happen before Shadi opened his eyes again to find himself back outside behind the professor. The professor did not move or speak, but Shadi knew he was in control now. "The redecoration is complete this man is my puppet now." He had no need to keep quiet now that the professor was no longer in control of his own body. "And now, Yami within Yami… The second stage of our game begins!"

* * *

"Here we are..." Solomon stated once the group stood outside the building of the archeology department at the University. It was odd coming to the school at night given how deserted the place looked. The building they stood in front of was not far from some of the buildings they had classes in and it made Yugi wonder why he never tried to come over to it and learn about the major.

The group made their way inside with no problem as Solomon had called the Professor earlier to let him know they were coming. The front door had been left unlock and a few lights were left on but not many making the building seem creepy in the darkness.

Joey cringed as they walked down a darker hallway toward the stairs that would lead them to the professor's office. "I hate schools at night! They're so creepy!"

"You don't have a shred of courage, do you Joey?" Tristan teased his best friend which got him a glare from the other.

After walking up some stairs and going down another hallway they finally found Yoshimori's office and the lights were still on letting people know there was someone inside. The window was glazed over so no one could see inside.

"It's spooky..." Joey had a look of dread on his face as he looked at the display just outside the office which had skulls and other artifacts.

Duke rolled his eyes, "Joey, you're going to make professor Yoshimori even more depressed if you look like that!"

Yugi turned to their blond hair friend, "Duke's right Joey. The professor must be worried about what happened to Mr. Kanekura."

"Awright I got it!" Joey whined to them, he then put on a smile to prove he was going to try and cheer the professor up, "Then let's put a big smile on, huh?"

Solomon agreed "This should help cheer him up..."

"Yeah, let's not mention the museum at all..." Yami bought up, they were trying to help him forget not remember Mr. Kanekura.

With that in mind Joey slide open the door and both he and Yugi popped their heads in, "Hey there Professor Yoshimori!" They called before all the others filed in after them.

"Sorry, we're late Professor..." Solomon apologized to the professor who was standing with his back to them.

Slowly the professor turned around, "Thank you for coming..." He spoke in a voice that sounded like him but something was slightly off about it. Upon closer inspection the group would have noticed the glazed over look in the professor's eyes but they were too far away to notice. "Come in... Come in...I've been waiting for you."

"Uh... Hope we're not interrupting anything..." Joey said to the professor while he whispered to Yugi, "He looks pretty happy."

Yugi agreed with him before Joey held up a bag he had bought along. "Professor, we brought something for you! Y'know... you showed us around the museum and all..."

All the others froze at Joey's words and it took a minute for even the blond to realize what he said and cover his mouth.

"Moron!" Tristan hissed, "Ixnay on the useummay!"

"Oh yes oh yes... The museum..." The professor said as he tilted his head. "Somebody killed him... Somebody killed Mr. Kanekura..." He then started to chuckle to himself.

The news that the professor gave them shocked them to the core. His odd behavior and the way he said it just seemed off.

"Hey something weird is going on here..." Joey pointed out.

"Professor Yoshimori what's wrong...?" Solomon asked trying to figure out what was wrong with his friend.

"There is nothing wrong... I was just waiting..." A creepy smile developed on the professor's face, "Waiting for Yugi and Yami..."

None of them had a moment to figure out what he meant by that as the professor charged forward with his arms outstretched. He found a target quickly wrapping his hands tight around Joey's throat.

The blond teen clawed at the hands trying to get them off as they cut off his air way, but the grip was too strong.

Tristan, Duke, and Yami jumped into action trying to pull the professor off but he had a death grip on their friend. Yugi and Solomon could only watch in horror as the professor tried to kill Joey.

"I want to see the other Yami..." The professor said looking Yami right in the eye.

Yami on the other hand was more worried about saving Joey to fully understand those words.

Behind all the chaos Shadi seemed to have appeared out of nowhere behind Yugi and Solomon. Yugi turned when he felt a presence and his eyes widen when he saw Shadi.

"Please excuse my puppet's rudeness..." However it was easy to tell by the look on his face he wasn't sincere about it.

The gears in Yugi's mind started to turn as he tried to figure all this out. _'Why's the professor doing this...? Wait...It couldn't be... Shadi..._' He looked back toward the Egyptian male and shouted, "Shadi! What did you do to professor Yoshimori?"

"If my theory is correct this will bring him out..." Shadi replied as if it was the most obvious thing as he looked toward Yami who was pulling at the professor's arm. "This will bring out the other Yami!"

* * *

**Sakura: **Shadi has made his move! Things are going to get much more interesting for the next few chapters or so I hope.

**Yumi: Review!**


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